Legend of the Labyrinth
by Chris-San
Summary: Inuyasha has spent ten years of his life alone, in darkness, known only as the feared manbeast that stalks labyrinth under the Cretin castle. Now Kagome has convinced him to leave the labyrinth and come with her in search of her family...
1. The Myth

First of all, this is a very old legend, which comes from the island of Crete in the Mediterranean sea...

It began when Poseidon, the god of the sea, gave the king of Crete a magnificent white bull. People say it was the size of a house, strong and muscular, with a pure white hide and sharp, elegant horns protruding from the top of it's head. It was indeed a marvelous creature to behold, what a shame that is was to be used as a sacrifice.

That was the very reason Poseidon had given the bull to the king. It was to be sacrificed in honor of the god of the sea, for it was custom then, that only the finest of beasts could be given to the gods. However, when the time came for the ceremony to be held, the greedy king decided to keep the bull, and sacrificed a lesser animal instead.

This greatly angered Poseidon, however, it is strictly forbidden, even for a god, to revoke a gift given of one's free will. Instead, Poseidon used a different method to extract his revenge, and bring shame upon the whole house of the king. It is said that he placed a spell on the king's wife, the queen, which made her fall madly in love with the bull. 

Several months later, she gave birth to a horrid child. A half beast with the head and legs of a bull and the torso of a man. The king was in disgrace. How would he ever live down the shame of having such a freak in the royal family. However, he didn't dare kill the child, as it was part holy beast, and such an act would anger the gods even more. Instead, he had a large labyrinth built under his castle, which was so intricate and complex, it would take any man years to find his way back to the entrance. The construction took many years, however the moment it was completed, the king took the young boy, and cast him down into the labyrinth, sealing the exit so that the labyrinth and the boy might never see the light of day again. 

In the years that followed, the king used the labyrinth as a punishment to all those who might dare stand against him and his law. Those who did were cast into the pit at the start of the labyrinth, and never seen again.

Now then, in the above story, if you change the word "Bull" into "Dog," you have an idea of how this story began...

*~*~*~*~* 

How long had she been walking? Hours? Days? She couldn't guess. Down here in the dank, eternal darkness of the labyrinth, moonlight could have been seen as sunshine, and time was simply infinite. Infinitely long, for every infinitely small second that crept by. 

By the dim light of her last candle, Kagome missed the rut in the stone floor and stumbled forward on her weary feet. What on earth am I doing down here?, was her thought as she caught herself again. Oh yeah, she had chosen to be down here.

Well, at least that was partially true. Kagome had been the princess of a small island, not too far from the nation of Crete which she was now in, or under might be the more appropriate term. They had always been a small, but proud nation, good seafarers and allies with the Cretins. That was until they had one day decided to attack her unprepared kingdom, capturing her and a great number of peasants before they could even think of defence. Even now, she could only pray that the rest of her family had escaped to safety and managed to hide somewhere out of the Cretins reach. 

In the mean time, however, Kagome took her place at the head of her fellow captives as they were led out before the king and prince of Crete. That had been one of the most trying moments of her life. It wasn't just the king's over swollen head that made things difficult, but also the way the prince stared at her throughout the whole ordeal. It made her feel as if her clothes were crawling on her skin, ready to run away and leave her naked before his thirsting eyes. 

In the end, through all her pleading and reasoning, the king decided that he would make them all low level citizens of his kingdom, and made them swear allegiance to him and his country. All that is, accept Kagome. She alone refused the pledge, choosing instead to take her chances in the fabled labyrinth of the castle. Her people had begged and pleaded for her to change her mind, and some even offered to revoke their pledge in order to go with her, but she would here none of it. They could move on and find new lives here, with endless possibilities. Kagome knew, however, that taking the oath would mean becoming the whore of that lust crazed prince which sat before her. She wouldn't do that, not now, not ever. She would rather be physically dead, than have her soul killed to become an empty shell of her former self. 

So, on the appointed day, Kagome, as well as several other criminals, traitors, and those who had chosen to go against the king's will, were brought before the entrance to the labyrinth and lowered into the pit. Each one carried only a few candles for supplies, and some flint and steel to light them with. Then the massive trap doors had been shut once again, leaving the unfortunate to their fate.

The meagre few had moved forwards, or at least what they thought was forwards, clustered together for protection and comfort. They were soon utterly lost in the heart, or what they thought must be the heart, of the labyrinth. However, there was no way to tell anymore. East or west, north or south, night or day no longer existed. There was only the constant, hopeless maze, where each part seemed equally familiar and foreign at the same time. 

They were together for a long time, until Kagome suddenly tripped over a stone and fell down a hidden embankment. Her candle extinguishing as it hit the ground, and she had spent what seemed like hours if not days, fumbling around in the unyielding darkness trying to get it lighted again. She had dropped her flint, and for a time it seemed so hopeless she thought she would go mad. Then she cried for a long, long time, and finally when her tears had run dry, she began her search again. 

Now walking alone the endless mocking corridors, she was barely aware that she was absolutely filthy. Dirt streaked and tear stained, she trudged along, her throat swollen in thirst and her stomach years beyond empty. She almost hoped the feared half-beast would show up and finally put an end to her misery. Surely all the others had met their fate by now. Stories said that the dog-man was terrible to behold, with the head, feet and arms of a wild wolf, yet standing like a human. As well, he was also said to have sharp claws and pointed teeth, perfect for tearing flesh, and yellow eyes with slits, like a cat's, only more wild and enraged. He was supposed to be blood thirsty and ruthless, driven mad by the combination of human and demon blood within him. He feasted regularly on human flesh and loved the taste of young and tender girls... 

A distant sound brought Kagome back to reality. Distant, yes, but real, and the second she recognised it, her body began to move forward, motivated by a new found hope in that sound. She couldn't believe it, and even as she jogged along, she knew it was probably some disgusting joke meant to get her hopes up, but it was getting closer! She came to a crossways in the endless halls. Yes, it was stronger in this direction. She quickly turned down another corridor, then around a bend, then another, and another and just when Kagome thought it would never be over, she hit a dead end. 

And there is was, flowing out of a small crack in the wall, down into a small depression in the floor, pooling there, crystal clear and delicious in every possible way...water!

Kagome lunged forward, staggering like a woman possessed in her disbelief and joy. She dipped both hands into the small pool and drank greedily, sucking up the cold liquid like there was no tomorrow. She repeated this again and again, until her head began to ache from the wonderful coldness of the water, and still she drank.

Slowly, she began to relax her pace, going from fanatics, to regular drinking, and finally, to slow, savouring sips, allowing the water just to dance over her tongue and inside her mouth. She stayed like this for a long while, just savouring, breathing, sitting, until she finally woke from her reverie and, leaving her candle from where she had stuck it between a crack in the floor, she began to look around.

This room was different from the others, not so much in architecture or style, no, no. It had the same stone blocks for walls and ceilings, all of uniform shape or size. In fact, structurally the room was exactly like all the others in the labyrinth, save for the fact that this one was inhabited. 

A small pile of filthy rags had been stuffed and scrunched into a corner, forming a type of primitive bed. Along the edge of the floor, next to the walls, lay several objects of crude and undefined shape, like poorly made toys of stone and wood. Among some of the objects, there were also several small knives, arrow heads, and the like, obviously weapons which had been concealed by prisoners and taken from them upon their defeat. If Kagome had looked, she would have noticed that the area was surprisingly very tidy, an obvious effort being made to keep it so.

Kagome, however, didn't notice much of this, her eyes shot instantly to the one thing in the room which so plainly suggested humanity that it made her gasp out loud the second she realised what it was. There, crudely scratched out on the stones in the wall, was a mural. It was formed of many child like shapes, rough and simple, but nonetheless Kagome picked out a sun and a moon, several stars, a few clouds. All things that the artist would never again gaze upon from his prison below the earth. It tore at Kagome's heart to look upon, but not nearly as much as what she saw next. 

It was in the corner, a little off to the side. A rather grotesquely misshapen form that the artist had obviously tried desperately to perfect, and she knew why. There were writings below the drawing, or rather, simply a word, unfinished, but still legible. Stick letters, wobbly, just like a beginner's would be, spelled out like this: MOTHE...

It ended there, but the suggestion was clear, "Mother." This crude figure was a rendition of the artist's mother. No wonder they had tried so hard to make it perfect. Hours spent lovingly trying to carve out the face of one who brought comfort in times of darkness. It made Kagome think of her own mother, how she wished she could see her...

It was unfinished though, the drawing. At some point, the artist had decided that his work was not good enough, and had sought to destroy it, but not completely. Kagome ran her hands along the marks which suggested this. Five of them, evenly spaced, wrought deep with agony and contempt for life. How awful, she thought. This person must have been down here for a really long time.

And suddenly, it struck her. These deep gashes, marked in hatred and loathing, had not been made by any tool. They were made by claws, harder and sharper than steel, belonging to the only resident prisoner of this place, the man-beast, the half-human, the feared monster of Crete.

Kagome sat there, dumbstruck. He was human, at least in some respect. He could remember, think, spell, create and most of all, love. What a horrible fate for anyone, doomed to roam these light-less halls, alone and feared by all. Gods only knew if he even realised why he had been locked down here in the first place, or was there even a reason? Sure, he may have looked different, but it was always the inside which mattered most after all. Had anyone even bothered to look at him as a human, and not some stupid, primal circus freak? Perhaps his mother, but anyone else? No, she thought, probably never...

A yawn escaped her lips before she even realised it was welling up inside of her. She was tired, dead tired. Who knows how many days it had been, locked in this prison without light. 

"Either way," she thought aloud with another yawn, "it can't be nearly as long as _he's_ been down here..."

A sudden thought struck her, she didn't want to leave this place, this room, to begin once again wandering the endless halls without purpose or direction. Here at least, there was water, signs of human life, and a soft place to rest which, at the moment, was not being used by anyone...

That did it. Too tired for another thought, she sank down on the dank makeshift bed, which smelt of dirt, sweat and something else, something not quite human, but not unfamiliar...

"That's right, dog." she thought with a smile. After all, he was half dog demon, right? Why shouldn't he smell like it, just a bit. She giggled, despite her half dozed state. Somehow, she couldn't wait to meet him now. What will he be like, she wondered, but even then she knew she'd find out. This was his home, and she was intruding on it. Dangerous or not, she didn't care. It was the only way she would be sure to meet him. Whether he killed her or not was up to him then, but it was better than dying of starvation, alone, in those endless halls, and somehow, she didn't think he'd kill her. Somehow, she just knew he wouldn't... 

*~*~*~*~*

Finally, they were gone!

"Damn noisy bastards!" he said to no-one in particular.

This lot had been exceptionally dumb, and he had needed to use extra noise and persuasion just to herd them in the right direction, towards the secret exit that only he knew about. If they had been any dumber he would have gone and attacked them, just to see if they had anything of value that he could take. 

"Probably not, would have smelt it." he muttered. 

He wasn't quite sure when he had picked up this particular habit of thinking out loud, however it had seemed necessary to fill the space with something other than just air, so he did it. Now, as he walked purposefully back towards his own den, he shuffled his feet just a little more against the stone floor, just to get a better sense of that "filled" sound he liked so much.

He didn't have a torch, fire, or light of any kind on him, nor did he ever. His keen eyesight was sharper than most, well adjusted, and picked up on any small amount of light that one of his unknown neighbours, creepy crawlies and the like, might be creating. He also used his ears a lot when moving, the sounds echoing off the walls told him if he was in a hall or crossways, and the texturing of the stone was also familiar to him by now. Truly, he was the only master to this, his domain, and anyone that strayed onto his turf was completely vulnerable to the sway of his will. 

Not that Inuyasha had any hatred towards the humans that were placed in his lair, they were just annoying. He didn't particularly like the taste of human flesh, and even more disturbing was the smell of their decaying corpses. So, after a few years, he had come upon a plan for chasing them, like cat and mouse, through the tunnels and out his secret exit. It had started simply as a game at first, a way to pass the time, and he still enjoyed some of the chase. However, now it seemed like more of a duty, a chore that he had to put up with. It was either that, or spend weeks smelling their rotting bodies when they finally collapsed from hunger or thirst. He really hated that, better to get them out as soon as possible. 

He was almost back to his favourite den by now, and he would go through his regular routine. Take a nap, have a drink, catch a few rats, and wait until the next batch of useless morons came around. It was always like that, nothing ever changed down here. 

Or did it?

Inuyasha suddenly stopped, sniffing the air. There was a scent in it, a distinctly human scent. 

"Damn, I missed one." he thought with contempt. Inuyasha had thought he had his little game down to an art by now, and it always ticked him off when he let one get past him. On top of that, this one had managed to find it's way to his lair. No one entered there, no one was allowed to pass, that was strictly his space, and his space alone! He would show them, show that bastard that he wasn't allowed to wander just anywhere in his, Inuyasha's, domain.

"I'll show him!"

With that he sprinted forward, tracing the familiar path in as many leaps and bounds as the low ceiling would allow. He stopped suddenly as he rounded the second last corner, squinting at the sudden light that met his eyes. So they really were right in his lair huh? How dare they! Eyelids partially lowered, he stormed into the room, ready to severely pummel whoever his unfortunate victim might be. 

"Hey!" he called, making his voice as loud as it could go. He walked out into the light and took up a defensive stance, ready for whatever might come at him. However, there was nothing. No attack, no running away in fear, no movement at all for that matter. For a moment, Inuyasha thought he might have finally lost it, and then, through his squinted vision, he spotted a figure, curled up in the corner, sleeping peacefully in his bed. 

Inuyasha stood there a moment, waiting for his vision to clear, questions racing through his head. Who is it? How dare they sleep in MY bed? Aren't they afraid? Maybe something's wrong with them? What'll happen if they wake up? All these questions, and they only became more confusing when he could finally see again. 

"It's a... a...girl!" he said, incredulous. Yes he knew what they were, but why and how one had ended up down here was beyond him, especially one like this! She wasn't old or maimed, but young and fresh, a slightly sweet scent still escaping her from under the layers of dirt and grime. Her features were proud and well defined, and she looked healthy, from what he could tell, like one of those prissy noble bitches...only not.

He stared at her, sleeping peacefully like she was, as a well of strange emotions fought their way up from his stomach. Someone was there. Someone. Not no one, someone...

"And she's sleeping in MY bed!" He growled. How dare she! This was his domain! He was master, and she should be cowering in fear before him! 

"HEY! WAKE UP!!" His loudest voice echoed off the walls and reverberated down the stone hallway. She stirred, looked uncomfortable a moment, rolled over to face the wall, and lay still again...

Dammit! Was this girl deaf? That yell had been loud enough to hurt his own ears, and he had expected an immediate response. He wanted to scare her when she woke up, to put her back in her place, he had to!

"I said HEY!! WAKE UP!!!"

This time the yell was deafening. No one could ever possibly sleep through that! But still there was no reaction. He waited, and waited, and then...

His ears twitched, picking up a light sound. Her breathing was uneven, maybe even a little shallow. She was faking it.

*~*~*~*~*

Kagome lay there, unsure of what to do. She knew she should turn around and say something, but that yell had sounded so monstrous it had taken all the courage out of her. She only hoped she could feign sleep until her brain got back into working order.

No such luck.

"I know your awake." The voice was a low and thick growl, the words detached and almost clumsy from lack of use. Still, it sent shivers down her spine. She wasn't feeling nearly so morbid now that she wasn't tired. She didn't want to die, so what could she do?

She decided not making him any angrier would be a start. Slowly, but surly she stood up, instincts telling her not to make any sudden movements in front of a predator like this. She knew she should turn around, but she didn't. She stared at the wall, afraid of what she might see. What if he truly was horrid and terrible? She didn't want to know how he would react if he caught her staring at him. THAT would defiantly make him angry.

"I'm sorry." It seemed like the best way to break the silence. It filled the room and threatened to swallow her whole. She suddenly decided she didn't like this view, this wall. She couldn't see what was coming, what was there. It was so quiet, maybe he wasn't even there?

Slowly, slowly, she began to turn around, telling herself over and over again not to react to the sight of him. She couldn't react, no matter how terrible he looked. That would only anger him further. Almost there now, she only had to tilt her head to look up. Slowly, slowly.

She gasped. 

She had been prepared to see a monster of unimaginable size, with fangs and claws and drool sliding out of a gaping mouth. What she got instead was so much the opposite she instantly dropped her caution. 

It was a boy, a regular human boy, almost. He had a dog's ears, yes, and silver hair down the length of his back that hadn't been looked after for years. His body, though muscled, was unbelievably thin and seemed starved for so much more than just a good meal. His skin was stark white, his yellow eyes dilated and squinting, even in the dim candle light. The only thing he was wearing were a pair of baggy red pants. Kagome also took note of the small claws coming from his hands and bare feet, but they didn't worry her anymore. She was too busy wondering how he survived down here for all these years, all alone.

Suddenly, a growl escaped his throat. She had been staring, he was angry, not that she blamed him. It was rude to stare. 

"Sorry." She said for a second time. She directed her gaze to the floor instead, rather ashamed. "It's just...I wasn't expecting..." She trailed off, maybe trying to explain herself wasn't such a good idea. 

"You weren't expecting a monster?" he snarled with menace in his voice. Kagome's eyes shot up at him. 

"No, that's exactly what I was expecting...but you're not..." She trailed off again and looked at the ground. This was not going well, but what could she do to make it batter? Oh well, at least nothing could make it any worse, right?

Wrong.

Because even as she was thinking, her last candle shivered, dimmed, and went out.

*~*~*~*~*

He watched the girl across from him freeze in shock as the candle went out, her expression equally matched by his own. What she had said, just now, had he understood right? She had been expecting to see a monster, and hadn't? No, that must be wrong, she must have meant to call him a monster, right?

A small sniffling sound brought him back to his senses. Even though Kagome had tried desperately hard not to start crying, when her last candle had gone out, she couldn't help it. Memories flooded her of happy, bright people and places she would never see again, of sunshine and starlight, warm cosy fires and romantic moon beams. The tears leaked out as a lump caught the sob in her throat. It was hopeless now, hopeless, she was gone, lost, already dead...

"Oi! What are you doing?" Asked a thick voice from across the room, Kagome didn't answer.

"Hey! I said, why are you crying?" Inuyasha asked again. The scene was really starting to disturb him. Sure he had seen people cry, but they had been full grown men. Weak men, with weak hearts, who had given up all hope, being lost in the long, tunnelled abyss. The last time he had seen a woman cry had been a long time ago, right before the darkness...

"Stop it! Stop it right now!" He yelled. He didn't want to remember that! Why was she making him think about that day? It was all her fault...

"I can't..." Came the sobbed reply. "I'll never see them again, any of my family, o-or flowers, or even sunshine." the last word just barely managed to explode out of her mouth, mixed with a terrible sob, the sound of someone who was dying of strangulation. Worst than that, she had said those words. He didn't want to here those words, things that reminded him of his former life. He had spent too much time trying to forget that, and now she was ruining it for him, she was still crying. 

"I'LL GET YOU OUT SO JUST SHUT UP!!!"

There was a catching of breath, a few more gasps. A long pause formed between them as she slowly regained some of her composure. She was still crying, but there was hope in her voice when she spoke. "G-get out? You know how?"

Inuyasha nodded in the dark, before realising she couldn't see him. 

"I said so, didn't I? Come on." There was a frightened yelp as he grabbed her wrist and started to pull her forward. They got about three feet at that pace before she tripped over an unseen edge in the floor and stumbled into him. He stiffened as he felt her weight, and something in him snapped. 

"Don't Touch me!" he roared. In an instant he had whirled around, grabbed her under her upper arm, and yanked her to her own feel. He shouted in her face, so close she could feel his breath. "Don't you ever, TOUCH me, AGAIN!!" 

Kagome winced and leaned back as much as she could manage, ready to cry again. There was a long silence as she let herself be held there, dangling painfully in his grasp. "I....I'm sorry..." came the shaky reply. 

He dropped her arm as she began using her legs again, and stood on her own. With a loud "Keh", he spun around and once again began walking. However he was slower this time, and he made more noise. Therefore Kagome followed him in silence, listening to the shuffling of his feet, and the frantic pounding of her heart. 

*~*~*~*~*

"Um, can I ask you something?" 

Kagome listened to the reverberation of her own voice in the black stone halls. The darkness seemed to be consuming her, and she needed to hear something other than the shuffling of feet, no matter how unsociable her companion was.

"You just did, didn't you?" Came the gruff reply. 

"I guess so."

"..." 

"So can I?"

"What?" 

"Ask you a question?" She repeated. There was an exasperated sigh from ahead.

"Fine!" He snapped. 

"Good." a breath, "What's your name?"

Silence.

Real silence, because Inuyasha stopped dead in his tracks the second the words registered in his ears. She wanted to know his name? Why? She didn't need it, nobody had called him by it in years. In fact, he hardly remembered it himself, how did it go? 

"Inuyasha..." He mumbled, mostly to himself. Yeah, that sounded about right. Dog-demon, the perfect example of how much his step-father had hated him. 

"Pardon?" 

"It's Inuyasha." He said flatly, and started walking again, just a bit faster. Too many memories, he hadn't been ready for this, any of it, and he wanted it to end now. It was starting to do more than just make him angry now.

"Inuyasha..." She repeated to herself nodding, then smiled. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kagome by the way."

She heard a huff in reply. They walked along in silence a few more minutes before they reached the dead end where Inuyasha's secret escape passage began. He almost smiled in relief.

"There." He stated, " Just crawl through that hole and follow the cave out to the shore. Now go." He turned to leave but was soon stopped.

"Inuyasha...I can't see a hole..." 

He almost smacked himself in the forehead. She couldn't see, of course, stupid humans! 

"Come on!" He pushed her head down and hauled her through the low tunnel, dragging her by one arm. They continued this way until the tunnel began to open up into a natural cave and the amount of light became uncomfortable for Inuyasha's eyes. He also noticed that the human wasn't having quite as much trouble as before.

"There." He stopped. The opening was just around the corner and the light that came in was easily visible. He threw her hand down and stormed back into the darkness.

"Inuyasha?" Came the surprised voice, "Inuyasha wait!"

Dammit! What could she possibly want now? "What?"

There was a pause, and in the dim light, he could easily make out her features. Why did she seem so nervous? 

"Umm, Inuyasha..." She played with the folds of her robes nervously before looking up at him. 

"Do you want to come with me?" 

He blinked at her, not quite registering what she had said.

"Wh..wha?"

"Do you want to come with me?" She repeated plainly.

She was serious?! She wanted him to go with her, out there? Why? Didn't she hate him? Wasn't she afraid, and he repulsive and ugly? He felt his stomach tighten.

"N-no." he stammered, almost a whisper. That was the decision he had made when he had first found this exit. There was no place for him out there. People hated him, ran away from him, chased him with swords and arrows and who knows what other weapons. If not, they did everything possible to make his life miserable. Tricking him, setting traps to damage his body or his pride. No, this was the only place he could stay, this was the only place he could ever belong. People always hurt him. Maybe this too, was just a trap. 

"Inuyasha..." her voice was sad. Why was she sad? She was getting out of here, she should be happy. She could go out into the world and be accepted, be loved. He could never do that.

"You'll never know unless you try." said a voice in his head, "You don't need to jump off a cliff to know it'll hurt," said another. "You can always come back here. It's not like it will run away on you..."

Kagome watched him. He seemed to be fighting himself, struggling. He had said no, but he wanted to. She knew he wanted to leave this place, to be free, but how to convince him...how...!

She sighed, "I see," she said at last, beaten, "I understand if you're too scared..."

"WHAT!" 

She had won!

"I'm not afraid of anything! Keh! Stupid girl! I'll show you how NOT afraid I am!" Defiantly, he stomped past her and around the bend in the cave. 

It took all Kagome's will power to hide her smile.


	2. Fire!

*~*~*~*~*

Inuyasha was glad Kagome didn't immediately follow, because nothing could have prepared him for the wave of sensations that hit him as he rounded the bend. 

The light was the first thing to get him, the colours pink, orange, and yellow invading his eyes, making him stagger. Then his feet seemed to slip out from under him as solid footing gave way to moist, soft sand, that felt warm under his soles. He fell to his knees and sat there, on the sand, blinded and overwhelmed by what his other senses told him.

His ears could make out the crash of waves on the nearby shore, and sea birds cried out harshly, only to have their voices buffeted and stolen by the strong breeze that flew off the sea. It was indeed the sea, his nose told him that. The smell of salt was mixed in with decaying seaweed and scavenged fish. Still he breathed it in deeply, letting it's freshness clean out his system, relieving his lungs completely of stale the cave air.

For many seconds he sat there, maybe even minutes, kneeling in the sand, hands up, pressed against the tightly closed lids of his eyes. There was no escape, no release. Everything attacked him at once, from all sides, and he could do nothing to fight back. Probably he wanted to hide, to run back into his cave and be comfortable, safe, sure of his surroundings. He didn't though, he just sat there, unmoving, unthinking...

Slowly, slowly, he lowered his hands from his eyes. Still scrunching up his face in a reflex effort to lock out the light, he waited, patiently for the pain to stop. It took time, but he was patient. Finally, finally, he risked a squint, and the deep gold of his eyes met the pale rose blush of the sunset. He gasped.

Blinking furiously, he gazed out at the broad line of the horizon, unable to keep his eyes open, yet unwilling to let them close. It was so big, so free, and beautiful! The sun had just set, and the few clouds in the sky were still glowing like dying embers above the ocean. Deep crimson hues, pale yellows, turquoise and navy blues...stars. He took it all in, everything, as much as he could. He seemed lost in so much space, he felt so small...

Inuyasha almost jumped out of his skin as an unfamiliar cry rang out from behind him. In the same instant, an object streaked past him and made it's way directly down to the approaching tide line and stopped just at the waters edge. He watched in amazement as the figure, dressed in a simple, short white dress, began moving and spinning in a strange fashion. Kicking at the waves and jumping over the foam, it held it's arms out to the sky began spinning, spinning, spinning before falling softly to the gound and onto it's back. And always it made that strange noise, the one that was born from the belly, and rose up, spilling over parted lips and spewing out into the atmosphere around it. He'd completely forgotten about that noise, that sound, laughter...

Kagome rolled over from her back onto her stomach, and looked at him as he looked at her. She wasn't afraid now, and took her time observing the strange creature that sat before her. He seemed even thinner now, in the light, than he had back then, and his skin was so pale it made the bleached sand of the beach seem like ordinary dirt in comparison. Yet more interesting still, was the expression he wore on his face. Beneath all the scrunching and blinking, he seemed so unsure, so completely overwhelmed, it was impossible to imagine him as a threat to anybody. A boy really, she thought, he's just a boy, discovering the wonders of the world around him.

She smiled. When he did, she wanted to be right there beside him, watching his face as it leapt in joy, or scrunched when it was curious, or froze in awe, just like it was now. This would turn into a great adventure!

*~*~*~*~*

They chose to camp on the beach that night, to sort things out and think things through. Now that they were free, what were they supposed to do? Kagome had some sort of goal at least, and that was to find her family and hopefully take back the kingdom that was rightfully hers. As to where or how she would do this however, Kagome had no clue. She couldn't even be sure that her family was still alive out there, but she believed it all the same. 

At least there was one thing she could count on for the moment. Inuyasha had agreed to go with her, if only for the lack of anything better to do. He couldn't very well go back to the castle, which had been his former home. Kagome had regrettably informed him of the death of his mother several years before, and as expected, the news hadn't been received well. Inuyasha seemed to get over it quickly though, maybe even a little too quickly for Kagome's belief, but she wasn't about to force him to reveal his feelings to her. They'd only just met after all. 

That only left them with two big questions, where would they go, and how would they get there? 

Kagome contemplated this in silence as she watched the crackling fire before her. She had managed to get it going using her tinder and flint, while Inuyasha had gone off to search out something edible. What he came back with wasn't even close to Kagome's opinion of food, however she ate it all the same. The seaweed was tough and salty, and Kagome had needed a good drink of fresh water from a nearby creek to force it down. Her face was sore at the end from all the grimacing and wincing she had done while devouring the stuff, but Inuyasha didn't seem to mind it at all. Not surprising. Kagome didn't even want to think about what he had survived on in the labyrinth. She decided that decent food would be the first thing she showed him once they got to a town. 

She frowned again. That was another problem they would have to deal with shortly. How was she going to smuggle the half demon into town and allow him to pass as a regular peasant? Would the cranky half demon take kindly to a disguise, or was there another way? The only way to get on or off this island was by ship, how would he conceal himself in the hold of a crowded passenger ship? She sighed again and walked over to the creek for another drink of cold water, letting the cool of the night calm her hot skin and frazzled brain. She heard the sea crash behind her and looked up at the deep blue sky and the stars that studded it's infinite depths, trying to remember the last time she had slept underneath the stars. Probably never. 

As she walked back to the fire, she noticed Inuyasha doing the same thing. He was sitting on the sand, cross legged with his back to the fire, shielding out the light that she guessed might still be harsh to his sensitive eyes. Silently, he watched the sea, taking in the stars, the moon and the horizon, all in one gaze. She couldn't see his face, but she could guess he was deep in thought too. Was he finding any answers to his questions? She decided to ask.

"Inuyasha, what are you thinking about?" she asked innocently. 

The reply sounded slightly like a muffled bark and then, "None of your business..." was all he said. She could see him stiffen as he felt her gaze on him. Warily he craned his neck to glare at her out of the corner of his eye, suspicion and tension written all over his face. He didn't trust her behind his back.

Kagome sighed again, tiredly, and scooted over to his side, feeling aware of his overly large area of personal space. He continued to watch her through narrowed eyes, until she was in such a position that he could glance at her quickly without having to move his neck much to the side. This accomplished, all for his comfort, he turned his gaze back to the ocean and promptly ignored her again. Kagome began to feel herself become irritated, and to get even, she chose to ignore his ignorance. She would babble on about everything to him, hoping to annoy him as much as he was annoying her. Kagome could be very stubborn when she wanted to be. 

"I was thinking we should head back to my home island." she decided suddenly. "Hopefully I can find someone there who knows where my family is, or at least in what direction they went." 

There was a small pause as she waited for a reaction from her companion. All she got was the slightest tipping of the head in acknowledgement. He still didn't look at her. She rambled on. "Of course the first thing we have to do is get there, however I'm not sure how. We'll have to take a boat, that's for sure, but I don't have any money to pay for our passage, and sneaking onto just any ship could be risky. These sailor guys are pretty tough and..."

"Keh!" 

She looked over at her companion in surprise. "Inuyasha?" His face was deadpan once again. She shrugged. Oh well. 

"Either way, I can't sail, I never had to learn how, and those ships take several men to run them. We'll also need money for food and supplies. I think we could both do with a change of clothes and some simple cooking utensils. I'm not sure how we'll get it though. I don't really like the idea of stealing..."

She was interrupted once again by a forced cough that Kagome could have sworn was simply another "Keh" in disguise. There was a small pause as Kagome waited for him to continue. She didn't have to wait long. 

"You're a real wimp y'know that?" was the sneer. Kagome was a bit taken aback, not because she was insulted, simply because he'd actually spoken. Inuyasha paused again, choosing his words, carefully thinking them over, trying to recall the proper pronunciation for each one. "These people...they betray your trust, take over your land, throw you into the labyrinth, and you don't want to steal from them? You're pathetic." He finished with disgust.

"What do you mean?" Kagome objected, "It isn't like they took things from me personally. It was the king who made that order to attack my city-state. Stealing from innocent citizens in exchange for what their ruler did wouldn't be fair..."

"Then steal it from their ruler? What's the problem?" 

"W-w-what?" She stammered, her eyes to the ground. He was looking at her now, intently. "A-are you nuts? There are guards there, they'd kill us on sight..."

"Keh!" He scoffed at her again. "Who do you think I am? I could take on 50 of those losers any day!" 

Kagome's eyebrows shot up, surprised. She stared at him. "Y-you could do that?" 

There was an arrogant nod from the other side of the conversation. "Of Course!"

Kagome ignored this remark and set her brain into motion. They needed the money, and stealing it from the king would be about the only thing she could deem to be fair. If Inuyasha could do it, it would make things so much easier for them...

Her train of thoughts were interrupted by a loud yawn that burst out of her unexpectedly. She covered her mouth, but couldn't help almost doubling over as fatigue took her. Inuyasha's ear twitched. 

"Go to sleep." He commanded suddenly. Kagome looked up at him, surprised. Was he concerned for her?

"Damn weakling humans. Need to sleep every freaking night....Keh!"

Kagome smiled as she leaned down against the cold sand, resting her head in her arms. Ignoring his muttering, she found it slightly amusing how he used the word "Keh" every time he couldn't think of anything better to say. The waves washed against the shore in a never ending rhythm, and even though she felt slightly cold, exposed on the sand, the princess soon fell asleep.

*~*~*~*~* 

The next day was spent pretty much in silence, sitting in the shade of the over hanging cliffs, and recuperating from the labyrinth. Kagome was tired. The moon last night had told her that it had been more than two months since her capture, and a three days since she had been lowered into the heart of the maze. Inuyasha was still adjusting. The sunlight was too much for his eyes, still accustomed to the neither light of the labyrinth. He kept them closed most of the day, slitting them open to take glances at the world around him. He seemed perfectly calm, annoyed and indifferent. Kagome wondered if she really could count on him to help her. He'd probably take off at the first opportunity that came up, she realised, some what regretfully. However she would cross that bridge when she came to it. 

In the later part of the evening, they finally set off together, Inuyasha scrunching his face in distaste as he hauled her up the steep edge of the cliff by the scruff of the pathetic excuse for a dress that was her clothing. Kagome indignantly crawled up the rest of the way by herself, only somewhat in awe at the strength he seemed to possess for someone so thin. Then they were off, walking with the fading pink of the setting sun to their backs. 

Inuyasha again set a very brisk pace and kept glancing back at Kagome, annoyance plastered all over his face. Her legs ached before too long, and the sand and grass got in her sandals, but she set her jaw and kept up. She wasn't going to be a wimp, she had no time for that. Besides, the way this jerk kept looking at her was making her mad. Did her think she was worthless, slowing him down? Jerk, she wasn't about to let him think that! So she doubled her pace and sped up, only to have him do the same, and then go faster, still looking annoyed. After about an hour of this, they arrived at the castle. 

Inuyasha stopped a good distance from the outer walls and crouched behind some of the low shrubbery. The area around the castle had been clear cut, and archers were positioned on top of the battlements. Inuyasha turned to her. 

"Stay here wench, I'll be back..." 

"Wh...What? Wench! Listen you, My NAME'S KAmmmfff!"

"Shut up!" he snapped and glared at her. 

She did not want to set the guards on alert, but continued glaring... "I'm not staying here, I'm coming with you!!" She hissed. 

"Keh, and what can you do? Yell at them 'till their dead? You'll just slow me down!"

"I won't slow you down! I kept up with you all the...way...here?" 

He was already gone, and Kagome forgot to finish her sentence as she watched him effortlessly sprint over the clearing and leap clear over the wall. 

The guards never saw him. 

Kagome sat alone under the night sky and pouted. 

*~*~*~*~*

There, a cluster of barrels in a dark corner. Inuyasha leapt soundlessly behind them, and waited to get his bearings. 

This place turned his gut, no doubt about it. Here, he could remember, he'd been teased, taunted, hit, picked on, and had stuff thrown at him. This blasted castle had been the place where it had all started. Here lived the people who had banished him, thrown him into that pit and sealed out the light. 

And now, they were going to pay. 

Darting from shadow to shadow, he quickly made his way over to the main courtyard. The lights were out, all was quiet. The only sound came from the clinking armour of the marching sentries. He spotted the treasury, standing alone at the northern end of the yard. As expected, it was heavily guarded, and the only way in was at the end a very long hall, with four men at each end. 

Inuyasha knew this, it had been like this for ages. Even if someone managed to take down the guards and enter the treasury, by the time the thief escaped there would be a mob of armed men waiting for him at the end of the long tunnel. The archers would get him then, or the spears, or the swords. It was a good idea, and had worked very well so far, however, Inuyasha had a plan. 

Not too far away from the treasury was the royal palace where the king resided. THAT was Inuyasha's real target. After ten years of living in a dark hole, eating nothing but wall slime and rats, listening to people fear and curse him, it was finally time for his revenge. An evil smirk spread across Inuyasha's face. His Mother wasn't here to stop him now, nothing was. The bastard was as good as dead. 

*~*~*~*~* 

It was bright, the king realised, bright and hot as he drifted into consciousness. Another scorcher of a day. Was it that late already? Had the slaves let him sleep in? Or maybe forgotten to close the curtains that night? Either way, he would beat them. There was no excuse for forgetting something trivial like that. 

The king rolled over onto his back and took a deep breath. He coughed, Smoke? His eyes shot open.

The room was on fire, roaring and crackling as it consumed everything in the room, eating it's way up the tapestries on the wall, it's orange flames licking the wooden support beams on the roof. He coughed again. What in the world!! 

He leapt out of bed and ran for the door, only to find it blocked by a heavy oak wardrobe. 

Why? How?

No time to think. He pounded on the door. "Help! Help! Let me OUT!!"

Somebody would come, somebody would save him. After all, he was King!!

"Save you're breath old man, there's no one there. I made sure of that." 

The King spun around to instantly realised this was a nightmare. It couldn't be real, the image before him, it was impossible. "No..."

"Oh yes, you bastard, yes." Gold eyes twinkled from under an inhuman head of silver hair, flashing orange in the light of the surrounding flames. "What, thought I was dead? Didn't think a boy could survive for ten years, alone in a hole, without light or air or FOOD!!" The sweat gleamed as it rolled off of it's bare torso, muscles bunches, claws ready. The king turned to the door. 

"HELP! PLEASE SOMEBODY!! ANYBODY!!" 

"ASSHOLE!!"

Before he could blink he was slammed against the wardrobe, before being spun around to face the thing, his step-son. Blood trickled into his eye from a cut, as claws gripped his throat.

"Don't you get it," Inuyasha hissed, "You're dead! No one can help you, no one can hear you, nothing." 

There was silence, the roar of the flames seemed distant. 

"How do YOU like it?"

He was flung to the bed, alive and dancing with flames and fire. It leapt onto his robes and clung there, even as he rolled over and off the other side. Pain hit him, surreal pain as his skin cracked and peeled back, bubbling from the heat, burning. 

He screamed... 

*~*~*~*~*

Outside the window on the roof, Inuyasha listened, waited, and then turned away. The sense of accomplishment lifted a weight off of his shoulders, but that was all. There was nothing more, no joy, no relief, no sense of satisfaction, just emptiness. 

People were running now, some yelling to get water, others screaming, "It's the King, the King's room, the King!!" It was pathetic. Humans were pathetic. Most of the guards by the treasury had left their post by now, driven by fear or rushing to do some other person's half crazed bidding. He quickly knocked out the two that remained and entered the safe. Not that he needed to. Even if they yelled, no one would come.

Inside was strangely quiet. The gold sat there, stagnant, unmoving, uncaring that it's master had just been killed. Heartless stuff, gold. Inuyasha grabbed two sacks of it and made for the door. He walked, in plain sight, down the hall and out into the courtyard. People ran by oblivious. They wouldn't catch him, they were too stupid, everyone was stupid, the whole world...

Thud. 

Pain lanced so unexpectedly through Inuyasha's shoulder he cried out in surprise. Twisting his neck, he saw an arrow embedded in his skin, piercing just above the left blade of his shoulder. He panicked, instincts taking over as he spun around, eyes wild...

He saw him.

Standing amidst the dancing flames and screaming people, holding a large longbow, calm and cool as ice. 

"Naraku!?"

He notched another arrow and brought it up steadily, aiming at his heart...

Inuyasha fled, kicking in helmets as frantic guards crossed his path. Naraku, his older half-brother. The first son of the king, and of the mother he and Inuyasha shared. 

Another arrow embedded itself in the ground at his side. He wanted to kill him too. Everyone wanted him dead. Some men were chasing him now, the guards had finally caught on. 

Breathing ragged, he reached the wall and jumped, touching the top briefly to propel himself over and out of the castle. The hard ground rose up to meet him, and he stumbled slightly as the shock of impact caused the pain to spread out to his back and halfway down his arm. He dropped one bag of gold, and turned back to reach it just as two arrows simultaneously hit the ground where he would have been, had he kept running. He dashed, jumping and weaving, stumbling and panting hard. His lungs were on fire and his legs ached. The smell of seared flesh filled the air. He didn't know where he was going, his instincts told him to run, and run he did. Sprinting as fast as he could, he did not stop for at least ten minutes, when he collapsed on his stomach by a stream, and waited. 

*~*~*~*~*

That was how Kagome found him. After watching for a long time, as flames appeared within the walls and people screamed, she had begun to fear the worst. Just when she had decided to leave her hiding place and see if it were possible to scale the castle walls, a figure had appeared. Darting over the high outer wall, Kagome saw him stumble, drop something, get shot at, dodge, and then take of like Hades himself was at his back. He ran by not twenty feet to her right, eyes wild, unseeing her. There was an arrow imbedded in his shoulder, and then he was gone. 

She followed him, of course, running hard for several minutes until she was out of breath, and then just walking in a straight line until she had come upon him. He looked exhausted, sweat mixed in with blood as it trickled down his back. She stepped into the clearing, and stopped. 

He was up like a shot, standing, hunched over, ready to fight. A fierce growl reverberated in his throat, and Kagome involuntarily took a step back. She waited a minute, while the panic left his eyes and his tired mind seem to flicker with some recognition before trying again. 

"Inuyasha," she called gently, taking a step forward into the moonlit clearing. "Inuyasha, it's me." 

A tense moment, a blink, a shake of the head, then, "Keh!" and he was up sitting cross legged in the branch of a tree. He didn't want to see her right now, didn't want to be around anyone, he winced as his shoulder throbbed yet again. 

"Inuyasha?" He didn't answer. "Inuyasha you're hurt." more silence. She seemed to be getting frustrated, or was that desperation in her voice. "Inuyasha, you have to come down here so I can look at that wound. We have to get the arrow out and make sure it doesn't...get..."

She watched with wide eyes as he grasped the shaft in his right hand, and with one brutal yank, freed it from his back. He tossed the arrow down at her feet, shimmering darkly with a thick coat of blood. 

"Inuyasha..." I was more of a whisper now, a whisper to herself. He wasn't listening, he just wanted to be left alone. Confused and worried, Kagome bit her lip, but realised there was nothing she could do. Painfully aware of the miserable person sitting above her, she curled up by the tree under him and soon fell asleep. 

*~*~*~*~*

Inuyasha awoke once again to find everything painfully bright. The night had given way to morning and sunshine, a shaft of which had parted through the dense leaves of the forest and was now shining directly in his eyes. Growling, he tried to turn away, only to find there was no place to turn to. Surprised, he fell, only to catch himself up on all fours before he hit the ground. A slight twinge shot through his shoulder, a reminder of the night before. Inuyasha glanced about in the more comfortable light in the shade and realised he was alone. The girl had gone. 

Inuyasha scrunched up his face. It was no surprise of course. She was human, human's hated him. At least she had left the gold though...not that he could go and buy anything with it from a human's market...Keh.

Who needed them. If he wanted something, he'd steal it, and no one would be able to stop him, ha! 

He stopped short as the bushes rustled and something approached. Had the guards of the castle finally pulled themselves together and gone to hunt for him? Not that it mattered, he would take them all....

"Inuyasha?" 

He stopped growling and listened. That was no guards voice, that was... 

"Inuyasha...you're awake." 

...Kagome??

They stared at each other for an awkward moment. 

"Ummmm, are you feeling any better?"

Feeling? "Keh! What do I look like? Some wimpy human?"

At least he was talking now, "Oh well." slight pause, "Here, I brought you something." 

He scrunched his face as her hand vanished inside the large sack she was carrying and pulled out a package wrapped in cloth. ...The smell hit his nostrils and instantly made him drool...He swallowed as she thrust it into his hands. 

"Go ahead, open it." 

He didn't, of course, or well, not right away. First he glared at her, then at the package, and then back up at her again. Then he brought it up to his nose and sniffed it, thought, then sniffed it again...

"The taverna had some souvlaki left over," she was saying, "and I bought the bread and cheese in the market..." 

He unwrapped it, yes he recognised this. This was food. She'd brought him food...?

He sniffed it once again to make sure it wasn't poisoned, and then, without warning, leapt back up into he tree and began to devour his meal with the ferocity of a wild dog. Kagome sighed. 

"A thankyou would have been nice, " she muttered, but Inuyasha caught it. He humpfed and continued eating while Kagome continued to unpack her new, large bag full of stuff. She had changed, he saw. Now she was wearing a long green skirt and a plane, short sleeved white top. From her bag, she pulled out several pieces of material, some cloth strips, a jar, and several round oranges. 

She picked up one of the pieces of cloth, a white one, and unfolded it. After a moment of contemplating, she glanced back up to the tree, where the sounds of eating had finally stopped, and called out, "Inuyasha, could you come down here for a moment? I want to see something."

Somehow, the meal had put Inuyasha into a much more agreeable mood. He leapt down with his hands crossed over his chest. "What do you want, wench." He spat. Kagome sighed and rolled her eyes. 

"I just wanted to see if this fit you, you ungrateful jerk, now put it on." She tossed the white thing at him, and he caught it. Holding it up, he saw that it was a white shirt. Then something else came at him, he caught that too, red pants, like the pair he was wearing, only cleaner. Inuyasha stared at them for a moment.

"Well, aren't you going to try them on?" 

"Keh" and he stared to walk towards some bushes for cover. 

"Oh, wait. Just a minute!" He stopped again, and turned around. Annoying witch couldn't make up her mind. She leapt up and ran to him, dumping something else in his hand. 

"These are for your shoulder, to make sure it doesn't get infected, alright?" She smiled brightly at him, and Inuyasha suddenly felt weird. Why was she doing this? Buying him food, getting him clothes, being all worried about his shoulder...what was with this girl. 

He bent down lower to get a better look at her face. She didn't look like she was planning anything suspicious, and she didn't seem disgusted at his appearance, or by being this close to him...why? 

"Inuyasha, what are you doing?" 

She looked up at him with wide curious eyes and Inuyasha snapped back to himself. 

"Keh!" he spun on his heel and headed off to go change. 

*~*~*~*~*


	3. and then Water!

*~*~*~*~*

Inuyasha went and found a small secluded place further up stream. There he stripped, splashed some water onto himself to get rid of the dirt and sweat, before un-corking the little vial of stuff Kagome had given to him and dabbing some onto his wound with a rag. It stung, and at first he was slightly alarmed. Then, he remembered his mother putting similar stuff on his cuts when he was smaller. It had stung too. He let it pass. 

Finally came the clothes. Pulling them on, he was surprised by the soft yet strong feel of the fabric. The pants that he had worn for so many years he discarded in a pile, only to pick them back up again and contemplate whether or not he should keep them. One part of his mind thought that was stupid, they were old and useless to him now, ripped, tattered and smelly. Another part argued that, for the longest time, that was all he'd had. To just throw them away... 

He tossed them in a heap on the ground and quickly walked away before he could change his mind. 

*~*~*~*~*

"There's a ship leaving this afternoon. They're bringing supplies and men over to my Island. We have to get on it so I can find out if anyone on the island knows where my family went." 

They were sitting in the clearing eating oranges now. It didn't matter that they'd just had breakfast, Kagome justified that they had a lot of missed eating to make up for, especially Inuyasha. Besides, money was no longer a problem. It had only taken her a handful of coins out of the bag to buy some of the most expensive cloths and medicine in the market, plus the food. On top of everything else, Kagome had bought two heavy duty travelling cloaks, one brown, and one black. Now all she had to do was convince Inuyasha to wear the black one when they went into the market, so that he wouldn't be seen or recognised. 

Inuyasha saw cross legged in his white top and red pants, leaning back against the trunk of the same large tree he had slept in the night before. Eyes closed, an annoyed look on his face, Inuyasha ate his orange in silence and half listened to Kagome babble. The other half of his mind was trying to remember when was the last time anything he'd eaten had ever tasted so good. What had his favourite food been? Was it sweet, salty, sour, bitter? What the hell did all those taste like anyway? Did he remember?

Suddenly Kagome grew silent, and an unhappy, almost regretful look crossed her face. When she spoke next her voice was quiet and cautious.

"You know, there was a rumour in the market this morning. Apparently, someone broke into the castle last night and murdered the King by setting his room on fire..."

She trailed off, there was a tense silence.

"Keh! That bastard deserved it!" He tossed the peel of his orange and stood up abruptly. "Come on then wench, let's go."

Kagome didn't budge. 

"If I had known what you were planning, I wouldn't have let you go." 

The statement was a quiet whisper, but Inuyasha heard it. Instantly he froze, ears twitching in anger...

"And what do you know about it, bitch! That Fucker probably killed you're family too. Don't you want revenge?... Or maybe you're just taking his side because he's human, huh? 

He turned on her, a dangerous glint in his eye as he cracked his knuckles and brandished his claws. Kagome just continued to stare at the ground. 

"I won't become him."

"Huh?" 

He gave her a funny glare as she cocked her head up just enough to look at him from the corner of her gentle yet determined eyes. 

"I won't become him, like him. I won't be a murderer..." she whispered, "...especially for my family's sake." 

Inuyasha watched her as she sighed and then stood, turning to face him. 

"...and I'm sure you're mother wouldn't want you to be one either..."

He stared at her, frozen on the spot. 

What did she know? Little witch. She had no clue what it had been like, growing up down there, in the darkness. How dare she! Stand before him, call him a murderer, tell him he was wrong! He wanted to rake his claws along her skin and show her the pain he'd known...

...and yet....His mother had always been gentle, had always hated violence, and the way Kagome was standing there now, smiling just slightly, with eyes so innocent, so full of...something. 

Had Inuyasha been able to make the connection between his brain and his heart, he would have called it faith. Faith in love, faith in kindness, faith in right triumphing over wrong faith in the goodness in even his heart. 

Faith in a bright future for him. 

Of course, the only thing Inuyasha understood was that he couldn't bring himself to maul her like he had wanted. Nobody but his mother had ever looked at him like that, and it made a sort of warm, solid feeling press against his chest. 

So instead he spun around on his heel, growled and said,"...KEH!!" 

There was a fluttering of cloth and something black suddenly landed on his shoulder. Surprised and alarmed, he whirled around again, only to see that Kagome had started stuffing things back into her bag again, and wasn't looking at him any more. 

"You're going to have to wear that while you're in the village. Otherwise, people will start to stare, and they'll probably alert the guards of the castle." She stood up, adjusting the strap of the canvas bag around her shoulders and giving him a smile.

"Come on, Inuyasha. Let's go."

And with that, she set her feet on the path and never looked back. Inuyasha followed her silently, wondering. 

*~*~*~*~*

Inuyasha hated it. Under the cloak, the air was hot, stuffy and dry. It rubbed his sensitive ears even as it flattened them to his skull. The smell was terrible, the people were loud and worst of all his field of vision had been chopped almost to nothing by the fabric that hung over his head. It made it impossible to sense when someone was about to go and bump into him by accident. Several times he got so pissed off about it he turned around and punched the poor sucker in the face before turning around again and scurrying off down the road before anyone caught on. 

After all, who would have believed that an old hag could have a right hook that mean? 

"Don't stand like that GRANDMOTHER KAEDE, it's bad for your back." Kagome grabbed onto the front of his cloak and yanked him back down into a position that better suited his disguise. It had been the easiest way to explain the white strands of hair that slipped past the hem of the fabric and into broad daylight. Besides, who could suspect a young woman and an old lady as being even slightly dangerous?

At least as long as they could pull it off. 

That was the problem. Inuyasha wasn't so short, so he had to bend almost double as he shuffled along, pretending to be a withered old bag. His pride and ignorance weren't helping any either, and the string of language coming out of his mouth would have made any other old lady feint.

"Ah, here we are Grandmother!" Kagome spoke loudly to make it seem like the old woman had a hearing problem. "Excuse me, sir?" 

"Huh? What is it. 

Kagome put on her best "innocent-sweet-little-girl" face. 

"Well, will this ship be going to Higurashi Island?"

"Hump, you mean the former Higurashi Island, don't you."

"Oh, umm, I guess. Is that where it's going?"

"Yeah, what's it to you, sweety?"

"Well, sir, my Grandmother grew up there, you see. She's very old, and she wants to see the island one last time before...well you know..." Kagome trailed off. She thought she heard Inuyasha snort.

The rough looking sailor took a minute to think, pulling on his think black beard before answering..."Well, I dunno there missy. We can't take passengers for free, see, but if you're that desperate to go, then I suppose...

Kagome cut him off before he could continue looking at her like a piece of meat any longer. "We can pay." She stated quickly. 

The man looked at her surprised. "Oh really? How much?"

'This."

She held out a bulging fist sized bag and dug her small hand inside to pull out a few golden pieces. They flashed in the sun almost as brightly as the man's eyes flashed with desire. 

"Give-em to me!"

He made a swipe with his hand, but Kagome's was faster as she pulled it back. Behind her, she heard Inuyasha give off what would definitely be called growl. She shushed him by placing a hand lightly on his shoulder.

"Take us with you." She stated firmly.

The sailor's eyes blazed into hers for a few short seconds. Then, he side stepped, clearing the way to the gangplank. Onto the ship they went, Kagome dropping coins into the man's hand as she passed. The sky was blue, the sea was calm, the wind was right and the tide was high. Less than an hour later, they shoved off. 

*~*~*~*~*

"I hate this...." Kagome hung her head over the bucket and prayed that she had nothing else in her that could possibly be brought up. 

"Oi, you done yet wench?" Inuyasha wrinkled his nose and blinked tears out of his eyes that had formed when the harsh smell of bile had assailed his nostrils. It didn't help matters that as soon as the voyage had started, they had been tossed down into the stuffy, vent-less hold of the ship and left there with the rest of the cargo. Now Kagome was seasick, Inuyasha was about to be smell-sick, and they still had at least three hours to their destination.

"Uhh...shut up Inuyasha. who's the sick one here, you or me?" Kagome groaned out into her pail. Her head was pounding and her stomach felt like it was moving with a life of it's own. Worst of all, her sense of balance had been so distorted by the motion of the boat that she felt dizzy just sitting there. Inuyasha's voice sounded like it was coming out of the end of a long tunnel. 

"Keh! Stupid wench! I thought you said you grew up on an island? Shouldn't you be used to this kinda thing?"

"That's right," her voice was tight, as if she was ready to spill again. She paused, and waited for it to pass. 

"That's right," she repeated, calmer, "I grew up ON the island, as in I hardly ever left it. When I did, they usually let me stand up on the deck, where there was air and I could see what was happening...unngn."

  
Inuyasha held his breath and bit back a wave of his own nausea, praying she wouldn't throw up any more. 

"...what about you?"

The question caught him slightly off guard "Uh?"

Kagome risked lifting her head, just slightly, to look at him. "What about you? Why aren't you getting sick? Or have you done much sailing in your life?" 

Inuyasha gave her a kind of, "How dumb are you?" look, before realising that the slight upward turn on her pale pink lips meant she was teasing. 

"Keh!" This was accompanied with the classic gesture, "I'm half god beast! Of course I don't get seasick. That's something only you weak humans get."

"But aren't you also half human, Inuyasha?" 

"...Keh!!"

Kagome gave an almost half laugh into her bucket before leaning back and propping herself up on some bags of grain. A moment of silence, and then, "So, what's it like?" 

At Inuyasha's questioning glare she elaborated, "I mean, being a hanyou, what's it like?"

Now he was just confused. So as usual, in situations like this... "Keh!"

"Must be really interesting..."

This new pointed glare told her he thought she was insane. Kagome found it rather amusing how well she could hold a conversation with Inuyasha's face alone. 

"...I mean..." she elaborated again, "You're hearing, you're sight, they're all way above a normal man's. You can run really fast, jump very high, and you even heal faster than normal people..." 

Had Kagome been talking to anyone else, she could have sworn that this expression was one of mild amusement. Finally, he found his voice. 

"Heh, that's not all..." His voice held a touch of pride to it. Kagome looked at him, waiting for him to continue. 

He got up and walked over to some heavy metal enforced chest in the corner of the room. Once there, Kagome saw him pull back fingers in that clawing gesture she'd seen him use a couple of times. Then, quicker than lightning, he moved...

There was a sharp splintering sound, and Kagome looked over to see he had put his hand through the wooden lid of the heavy chest and was now lifting it up by one of the metal re-enforcement's across the lid, with a single hand.

"A...amazing..." 

Inuyasha's smirk widened as he tossed the chest up into the air and effortlessly caught it on top of his open palm. He held it there, looking about as strained as if the heavy chest had been a plate of Greek salad. Kagome gasped. 

"I have a better sense of smell than you humans do too." He boasted, setting down the chest with a thud. Still smirking, he held out a clawed hand and pointed, "That chest is full of newly forged weapons. That one has a bunch of clay vases in it, and the bags that you're leaning against are full of raw wheat grain and raisins. That keg's full of wine, and that crates got orang...

"Please don't mention food..." Kagome begged, once again leaning back over her bucket. Only slightly deflated, Inuyasha sat back down on the crate of weaponry and waited. 

Suddenly Kagome let out a frustrated grunt. "Ugh! I don't get it! I've never had it this bad before. Why do I feel so sick?!"

She lurched forward as the boat gave another violent rock. Inuyasha watched, staring silently at his companion with something that might have been a kin to sympathy. 

"Keh. Don't worry, it's probably just the storm that's making you sick, it'll pass..." 

"Storm?!" Whatever sense of comfort he had meant to give her, it had backfired. Her eyes were wide now, and if possible, her face was even paler than before. 

Of course, never being one to know when to keep his big mouth shut...

"What, couldn't you here it? It's been raging out there since just after we left the port."

Kagome stiffened, forcing her pounding headache out of her mind, and attempting to focus all her energy on the her sense of sound. It didn't work, the pounding of her blood just seemed to get louder.

She had just stopped when Inuyasha himself seemed to go stiff for a moment, before diving as fast as he could over to where Kagome sat and pulling the cloak back around his body. 

Not two seconds later, the door was violently kicked open, and a very wet, very angry looking red eyed sailor stormed into the room. 

"WHO ARE YOU!!"

Kagome didn't even get a chance to answer as the man grabbed the front of her blouse and began shaking her violently. 

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE! WHY ARE YOU HERE?"

Her answers were stuck in her throat as the violent shaking brought on the sudden urge to hurl again. The room reeled around her, her already unstable balance being thrown off completely by the tree trunk arm that held her captive...

"LET HER GO!!"

Seconds later the hard wood floor came up to meet her as she fell. For a little while, everything was a blur, then...

"D-DEMON!!"

Red fabric was in her field of view, and she could just barely make out the terrified, already bruising face of a sailor not five feet away. 

"What the fuck do you want from us?" 

The sailor didn't answer for a moment, then he hardened his resolve. "Bastards! So it's you're fault!" 

"What is?"

The sailor was interrupted as new footsteps were heard on the stairs. 

"Oi! Marcus, did you get them...?!"

"Oh yeah!" Came the seething reply, "No fucking wonder the gods have been going nuts. We've got a fucking demon on our ship..." 

"...D...Demon?!"

"Yeah..." Sailor number one, Marcus, turned to them. "You have to leave!"

Inuyasha glared back at him. "Where? It's a damned ship for fucks-sake -"

"If we throw you off, the gods will be appeased, the storm will calm and we'll all be saved. If not, we all die!"

Inuyasha almost gawked at the suggestion, before growling out, "And just who does "we" include. What about us?"

"That's none of our concern. You shouldn't have come aboard here in the first place..."

Marcus' courage failed him under that murderous glare. Half a second later, Inuyasha's fist had broken his jaw. 

Sailor number two fell to a wind knocking kick to the gut, followed by three and four, who landed on top of the heap with matching black eyes and bleeding noses. With that, Inuyasha was up the stairs and onto the deck. The rain and churning seawater drenched him in a matter of seconds, and in that time he managed to take out yet another startled sailor. Blinking to clear his eyes, he just barely dodged getting impaled by a harpoon. Next came a fist, and then a knife attack, before he finally managed to get the bastard down. The ship careened precariously up the side of the next swell, and his feet slipped on the wet wooden deck as they were turned almost vertical with the force. He ground his claws into the wood and held on as an unconscious body rolled over him and into the mast of the ship. 

He stayed like that a moment until the ship stabled. The second it had he was back up again, punching, kicking and dodging with the desperation of a cornered animal.

"INUYASHA!!!"

A girls scream cut through the air with the force and effect of an arctic blast. Inuyasha froze mid punch and whirled around to see Kagome, slung over a set of burly shoulders like a sack of potatoes. She was kicking and screaming, struggling for all she was worth, but it was hopeless. One more step, a twist of her captor's body, and Kagome disappeared over the rail, her screams silenced as the water swallowed her completely.

"KAGOME!"

He couldn't see her. Leaning far over the edge of the ship, nothing but sea foam and rain caught his eye. The ship bucked suddenly, or something hit him in the back, and the next second he had lost his footing, and was falling down...

The water was chilling, but not cold, and he forced himself to open his eyes in the salty depths as he searched. He saw something, an arm, a hand, a head of black hair swaying in the current. He grabbed her, and used his free hand to claw his way up to the surface, all the while wishing he knew how to swim. 

*~*~*~*~*

At first, it didn't matter. It was bright, loud and slightly chilled, but that was no concern of his. However, when it didn't go away, and continued to become more and more annoying Inuyasha was finally forced to open his eyes. The first thing he saw was...

Blue? 

Blue sky. It reached all around him, stretching the east where the dawn had just broken, and was mirrored by the quietly moving water. It lapped on the shore, it's rhythm interrupted occasionally by the scream of a gull. The air was fresh, and when the next blast of wind hit him, he realised he was either damp or soaked from head to toe. Startled and confused, he sat up. 

Collecting his thoughts quickly, he looked to his side to see Kagome lying not five paces to his left. Frowning slightly, he rolled slowly onto his hands and knees, grunting at the stiffness in his limbs, and checked her for any sign of life. He was somewhat relived when he found that she was breathing, but her eyes were closed, and her skin was rather pale in comparison to her usual pinkish glow. It was also plastered with stiff tendrils of her long flowing black hair, and thinking that it looked funny like that, Inuyasha brought one claw up to lightly trace over her skin and clear it away.

Kagome frowned, then grimaced, before twisting her face up in a moan and slowly shifting on the sand. Her eyes fluttered open to stare directly into his golden orbs, a look of awe and confusion stuck there. Realising how close he had come to her, Inuyasha straitened up and moved out of the way. No sooner had he done so then Kagome made a soft, strangled gag in her throat, and instantly rolled onto her side, pushed herself up on her arms and began to vomit seawater. Inuyasha watched her with a blank expression as she proceeded to cough and hack, trembling all over from the simple exertion of supporting her body weight. 

A few minutes later she finished, easing herself back into a sitting position and hugging her knees to her chest. Inuyasha's face remained blank as he watched her intently. Finally she spoke...

"Are you okay?"

That had been the last thing he had expected her to say. Here she was, just finished puking her guts out, sitting on a beach, shaking like a leaf, and she wanted to know if he was okay. As if that wasn't obvious.

"Keh! I'm fine, stupid."

"Well excuse me for thinking you might actually be hurt after fighting all those sailors."

Inuyasha jumped a bit at her tone. She sounded, angry?? "What do you care, wench? You should be more worried about yourself. I'm not the one barfing up the whole fucking ocean!"

Her tone changed completely as she looked at him and sighed in an exhausted fashion. Bringing her arms up to hug her knees, she let her head fall to her for arms.

"I care..."

Inuyasha's head snapped up from it's distance vigil of the ocean as he stared at her. Had he heard her right, or was he just imagining things. Before he could decide what to do, her head was up once again, pivoting around and looking at the jagged red cliffs that rose up just behind them. "I wonder where we are." Shakily, she got up on her two feet, and began to walk further down the coast line. 

"What? Isn't this you're island."

Kagome shook her head. 

"I've never seen this place before, and the rock here, it's completely different. Besides, I think that's..."

She trailed off, taking a few more steps forward, bringing her hand up to block out the sun.

"It's a temple." She stated, Inuyasha turned his head and squinted in her direction. Sure enough, there it was. Standing proudly on the top of the cliffs, surrounded by ocean, a pure white marble structure... 

"I wonder which god lives there..." 

"God?!" Inuyasha's eyes flashed and a usual scowl appeared on his face. "You mean like the same god that had got us thrown off the ship?" He hadn't forgotten that incident. Oh no, not in a million years. This guy was going to suffer, god or no god!

"Inuyasha, what are you-"

"Come on!" 

And with that, he was bounding ahead, heading in a bee line for the temple with Kagome running behind.


	4. Marble

*~*~*~*~*

It was easy for Inuyasha to scale the surrounding cliffs of the peninsula. A few running leaps and he was already at the top. Kagome, however, wasn't quite so lucky. Panting and trembling, her body weakened from being first sea sick, then tossed about in the ocean, and finally ingesting too much salty sea water, she reached the bottom of the cliff long after Inuyasha had already vanished over the top. She growled angrily at being left behind before hiking up her skirt to her knees and starting up the awkward angles of the rugged cliff. It wasn't sheer rock, luckily. Full off jutting boulders and wind carved alcoves, it was a fairly easy climb, even in Kagome's state of weakness. She was never in danger of falling into the ocean. Just very, very tired by the time she reached the top. 

From outside she could clearly hear Inuyasha's angry voice.

"Come on out, you bastard! Show yourself! You call yourself a GOD?!"

Kagome's heart leapt into her throat. He was inside the temple, in the presence of a god! Not only was it forbidden, but he was saying THAT?! Kagome wasn't sure if she should go in and stop him, or run away before the entire area was turned to char by lighting. When the sky remained an unchanging sapphire blue, Kagome sprinted for the temple door. 

"INUYASHA!!" She screamed at him, her voice reverberating off the marble pillars and walls. Inuyasha froze, wincing and flattening his ears to his head. He turned around to face her, anger in his eyes. 

"What the hell was that for wench! You almost made me deaf!" His voice was little quieter than hers had been. 

Kagome glared at him. 

"What are you trying to do!" she hissed, "You can't come in here. It's the house of a god! You'll get yourself killed, or worse!" 

"Keh! Like I'm afraid of some long winded-"

"Oh, my, my. What great disturbance is this here?"

Kagome and Inuyasha froze instantly at the sound of a new voice behind them. Gulping, they both turned around to stare at the alter near the far end. 

"Ah!"

"Eep!"

Inuyasha let out a short yell while Kagome hid behind him in fear of the sight. There, tinted in translucent blue, was a man, floating just slightly as he sat, staring at them from the throne of the god. A man with a small goatee and large, bugging eyes sticking out of the sockets in his head. Kagome held her breath. 

(A/N: It's Toutousai, the sword smith, for all you manga readers or episode watchers.)

"He's gonna kill us, we're gonna die. He's gonna kill us, we're GONNA DIE!!" Were the only thoughts that ran through Kagome's head. She cringed behind Inuyasha, clenching her teeth, barely daring to breathe.

Inuyasha, meanwhile, watched this so-called god with something that was a mix between profound shock and utter disappointment. The god was...this guy!

Said deity, meanwhile, stared at Inuyasha, a sudden recognition flashing in his eyes. 

"Ah, so it's you, is it. I thought it was about time you came to see me, although to be honest, I was expecting you much sooner." 

"Eh?" Kagome and Inuyasha blinked in unison. Expecting to see them?

"Umm, excuse me, but...why were you expecting us?" Kagome took a step forward. 

The ghostly god looked at her and blinked his large, spherical eyes. "...What are you doing here? Hmmmm...."

Kagome took a slight side step to prevent herself from falling over. "Di...didn't you just say you were expecting us?"

The old god scratched his head. "Hmmmm."

"Hmmmm..."

"Hmmmm... ... ..."

"..."

"OI! What are you waiting for old man? Anwser us!"

"..." ...

"I think he's asleep." Kagome whispered. Sure enough, no sooner had the words left her mouth than a slight snoring noise could be heard emanating from the hunched figure. Inuyasha's anger finally boiled over. 

"Wake up you goddam bastard! Don't fucking fall asleep while you're talking to us!!" He took a flying leap across the room, preparing to land a solid kick to the old fogey's head. However, instead of connecting, Inuyasha found himself going right through, hitting the back of the marble throne. The large block of rock, tipped, teetered and then fell, shattering onto the ground with an earth shaking crack. Inuyasha winced and let out a string of colourful words. It had the desired effect though.

"What? Who is it?" the old man slowly came around and stared ahead at Kagome. "Oh, it's you. The people I sent my dolphins to retrieve after I drowned that ship you were on in the storm..."

Kagome felt a drop of sweat roll down the side of her face. "Uh, yeah..." 

Inuyasha, however, wasn't quite so calm.

"So it was you!! Fucking bastard! You fucking nearly drowned us! What's the big fucking idea?!"

"Inuyasha!!" Kagome's eyes were wide once again with fear. He was swearing at a god! Was he totally insane?

"What now Kagome? Didn't you just hear him, this jackass tried to drown us!"

"He also said he sent his dolphins to save us! We weren't ever in danger of drowning so you can stop swearing-" 

"What the hell is a dolphin?"

Kagome blinked at Inuyasha before remembering that he'd spent most of his life in a cave. "They're like a really big fish with these round bodies and long snouts-"

"Big fish? I never saw no fish..."

He trailed off to turn and stare accusingly at the holy being, who was at the moment, tugging on his beard, looking deep in thought and somewhat confused. 

He half muttered to himself, "...maybe I did forget than..."

Kagome fell sideways, clutching onto the pillar for support. Inuyasha didn't move, it seemed his rage had finally reached a point where he was too mad to move...

The god shrugged his shoulders. "Aw well, It seems you made it here safe enough. Now then, what did you wish to see me for that was so urgent you had to come into my house and start breaking everything. Oh my, my, look at all this mess..."

There was a very long, very eerie silence. 

"YOU SHIT SUCKING ASSHOLE!! YOU WERE THE FUCK THAT BROUGHT US HERE!!!!"

The foundations of the temple shook with the force of Inuyasha's voice, and Kagome noticed a very fine dust sifting out of the centre of the roof. The bug-eyed god hardly seemed to notice however. Instead, he locked his eyes on Inuyasha, regarded him thoughtfully for a moment. Then, that same flash of recognition appeared in his gaze. 

"Ah, you're Inushiro's son, aren't you?"

That was probably the last sentence Inuyasha had been expecting. In an instant, all his anger died only to be replaced by wide mouthed shock. He didn't speak... 

Then in a voice filled with scepticism, "You knew my Pop? How?"

"Hmmmm." The god closed his eyes, thinking. "Yes, I remember him well. One of my finest creations he was, Inushiro. It's a shame really, such a shame..."

There was a long pause...

"...What's a shame?" Kagome asked in Inuyasha's stead. The half demon seemed pre-occupied, biting his lower lip, a look of pure bitterness on his face. Kagome wondered why?

The age old deity let out weary sigh, and set to answer Kagome's question. For a moment, Kagome thought he looked old and weary, as if the weight of his memories, old as the world itself, were bearing down on him.

"It began almost twenty years ago," he started, "after a battle between Inushiro and the Ruuyukosei, a former god-beast of my rambunctious nephew, Aries. The duel was long and fierce, and lasted many days. Fought by both land and sea, the shaking of the earth reduced entire cities to rubble, and the rolling of the sea swallowed fleets of ships whole. In the end, Inushiro emerged victorious, yet he himself was gravely injured. Having used the last of his strength to defeat his adversary, he collapsed, allowing the ocean to carry him wherever the waves desired."

"As per my bidding, the ocean carried him to rest on the warm shores of the island of Crete. There, he was discovered by a young woman, who came upon him lying helpless on the shore in the form of a great white dog. Realising that this was no ordinary beast, the woman, who was none other than the queen of Crete herself, ordered Inushiro to be taken up and brought to the palace. Once there, she tended his wounds and fed him delicacies that only those of royalty could afford, leaving his side only to attend to see to the needs of her infant son."

Inuyasha suddenly startled Kagome out of her trance like state when a short, rough growl escaped his throat. Before she could wonder why though, the god continued with his story. 

"A week passed, and finally, Inushiro awoke. The instant he opened his eyes and set his gaze upon her he was, as they say, smitten by her beauty. For three days, and three nights, he watched her in silence, under the same guise of a great white dog, and as such, came to see that her soul, as well as her face, were beautiful beyond all earthly things. It was not until the fourth night, that he finally revealed to her his true godly form, much to her astonishment and wonder. She, in return, was very much taken by his looks and charms, and soon found herself devoted to him as she had been to no other man in her life." 

"The King, however, was not a stupid man. Though Inushiro had never revealed his true form to anyone but the queen, the king knew why his bed had been cold, and had heard whisperings of two voices through the closed doors of the queen's chambers. The problem was, how was he, a mere mortal, to challenge a beast of the gods? Luckily for him, the answer came to him from one of the gods themselves. Aries, angry at the loss of one of his favourite pets, offered him a rare poison, that, once placed on the end of a spear, would kill a god-beast with one blow. The king accepted, and soon made the announcement that the great white dog of the palace was to be sacrificed as a gift to myself, the god of the sea."

"Inushiro, in the meantime, did nothing to stop him. Being a god-beast, and unknowing of the poison, he assured his lover that he could not be killed by any human method of sacrifice. Indeed, if he tried, then Inushiro would finally have a reason to kill the man that was his rival, and take his place on the throne with the queen by his side. She was already with a child, he knew, and soon, all the happiness a man could-"

"Keh!" 

Startled, the deity stopped his lecture and turned to Inuyasha, while Kagome just gaped at him, waiting for him to be blasted, melted, drowned or whatever else angry gods did to insolent mortals. Nothing happened. 

"We know what happens, you old fool, it's not hard to figure out." Inuyasha scoffed with a little more spite than simple indignity. "The bastard goes, lets himself be sacrificed, gets killed for real and then the queen gives birth to a monster instead of a kid. Great fucking story. Now what does this have to do with us being here?" 

There was a silence as both Kagome and the deity stared at him dumbly. 

So that's how it should have been, Kagome thought. Inuyasha could have been a prince instead of some feared monster. He should have had friends, and been happy. 

Instead, his step-father had thrown the child into a dark pit, calling him savage and monster until every person in the kingdom feared him and wished for an end to his existence. All because the king had been jealous? Something in Kagome's heart twisted at the wrongness of it all. Barely, she heard herself whisper, "Inuya-"

"Who are you?"

Kagome turned to find the deity looking at them as if he'd never seen them before in his life. This time, she was sure she saw Inuyasha stagger in amazement too. 

"WHAT!!!" His scream made more dust fall from the roof, and the bases of the pillars seemed to rattle as well. "You've been talking to us for the last fifteen minutes and now you can't remember who we are?!! Why you!!"

He made to leap at the throne only to, once again, pass through the ghostly figure and crash into the wall on the other side. The noise seemed to bring the elderly god back to his senses. 

"Ah, yes, Inuyasha, I have summoned you here because I have something I must give you." 

Behind him, Inuyasha pulled himself off of the floor, muttering. "Bout damn, bloody, time!"

The god ignored him. 

"See there," he pointed a long, skinny arm towards a small wooden chest in the corner, grey with age and dust. "It was the last wish of you're father that I give you the contents of that chest. Guard them well, for they hold great power, and I know of at least one who would gladly kill to hold them in his possession." 

Inuyasha stared dumbly at the chest for a moment, while the deity continued, "Now, my presence is demanded elsewhere. I will leave you with these last words of advice." And suddenly, his gaze was turned towards Kagome as he began to fade. 

"Mortal, princess, return not to your homeland, for only death awaits you there. I myself cannot say where you're loved ones may be, however the oracle of Delphi has much better sight than mine. Go to her, ask your question there, and maybe she will provide you with an answer." Kagome could no longer see him, as he faded into nothingness. His last words were haunting, distant, 

"Take care of each other. May the gods smile on you." 

Inuyasha and Kagome stared in silence for a long moment. Not surprisingly, it was Inuyasha who broke the moment.

"Hmph." he muttered as he began walking over the corner where the chest was waiting. "Who was that senile old bastard anyway?"

For once, Kagome didn't correct him on his use of language. Instead, she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. 

"I think that was Poseidon, the sea god, by the sounds of it. He did say something about commanding dolphins and the ocean to do his bidding, I think."

Inuyasha gave her a brief nod before removing the lock from the chest with a casual swipe of his claws. Biting her lip to keep her other thoughts at bay, Kagome shook her head and walked over to stand beside him as he opened the top and peered inside. 

There, resting on a damp and rotting pillow, were three objects. A sword, a scabbard, and a neatly folded piece of clothing. Inuyasha scowled as he reached inside and grasped the hilt of the sword, lifting it slowly out of it's resting place. His eyes narrowed as he examined it in the light. 

"Bloody rusted piece of crap."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome sounded appalled. Even if what he was saying was true, "Those are gifts from your father!" 

He gave her a sideways glare before sliding the sword into it's sheath and standing up, flapping the red piece of clothing open as with his free hand as he did. Holding it out from him as if it was something rotting he examined it, looking somewhat confused.

"Ah, I see, it's a coat! Here, let me show..." 

Instantly the coat was snapped out of her reach as Inuyasha jumped three feet away from her. "I can see that you dim-witted wench and it's mine!" He snarled out. 

Surprised, Kagome took a wordless step backwards, and raised her arms as if ready to ward off an incoming blow. Inuyasha watched her, continuing to growl for just a moment, before he stopped and returned once again to examining the fabric in his hands. It did look like a coat, he realised, and if he put it on like this... and tied it like that...

His thoughts were broken, however, by an odd sniffling sound. 

"Y...you don't have to be so mean about it...I-I was only trying to..." The end of her sentence was cut off in a squeak as her throat constricted and she jammed both hands over mouth to force back a sob. She tried to stop it, she had tried to be strong, but first she had been seasick, then she had almost drowned, and then she had awaken in this strange place only to be sick again. She'd chased Inuyasha up a cliff and into a temple, been sure of her instant and painful demise on at least three occasions that day, she was damp, cold, hungry, and Poseidon had just told her that she would have to travel all the way to Delphi to get any clues on the whereabouts of her family. 

On top of all this, Inuyasha had just snapped at her for trying to be nice. 

Kagome found herself leaning back against one of the pillars and sliding down to sit curled into a tight ball on the floor. She sucked in air loudly through her hands as she unsuccessfully tried to breath, sob and stop herself all at the same time. Her nose was plugged and drippy, her face felt like it was on fire, her tears were wet and slippery and when she tried to wipe them away they smeared and dried and became itchy against her skin. The larger portion of the flesh under her rib cage seemed to have jumped up and gotten stuck in her throat by her collar bones and it hurt the breath and she wanted to stop but every time she tried another thought of her family, Inuyasha, or their depressing situation jumped back into her head and another sob escaped her mouth. She wanted to go home, wanted to be held, wanted something, anything, solid and strong enough to grab onto her and never let her go, because at the moment, she was a weak snivelling, sputtering piece of goo on the floor, and there was nothing she could do to help it or anyone else around her. 

Meanwhile, Inuyasha watched her with something between worry and shock. Did he make her cry? He hadn't really meant to snap at her like that, it just sort of burst out of him when he'd seen Kagome trying to grab his coat. Besides, he always acted like that. Why would she start crying now and not any of the other times? Unless, maybe something else was wrong. He watched her. She was curled up in a little ball, and her face was all twisted up...maybe...was she hurt?

Something shuffled directly in front of her, so close and sudden it made Kagome jump just slightly and look up. 

Two golden eyes stared back at her, curious eyes, both slit in the centre like those of a cat. They were startling, angry and intense. Wild and quick to react to everything around them.

Kagome observed those eyes, holding them in an unwavering gaze. Blinking again, she looked closer. ...Bright, intelligent, vibrant, stubborn, proud... She took in the lids and skin surrounding the iris ...tense, suspicious, afraid... Dark eyebrows rested above them, taught with their usual scowl, and something more. Did they seem, concerned? ...innocence, confusion, loneliness... 

Even after she realised that she had stopped crying, she continued to look at him. High cheek bones, firm jaw, smooth pale skin, soft lips pulled tightly into a frown... bushy, unkempt moon-silver hair... 

He was beautiful, she thought, beautiful like the rainstorms of summer, like the top of the highest mountain, like the most remote corner of the deepest forest... 

"What the fuck are you staring at wench?!"

To their collective shock, Kagome actually smiled. 

"Thank you, Inuyasha." 

"Eh?!" 

Would he ever understand this bitch? 

"Keh! Whatever." 

If possible, her smile got even brighter as she stood up and wiped the mess from her face with a damp sleeve. It was damned annoying, her smile, as if she knew something that he didn't. She had been staring at his face... Inuyasha set his jaw and checked his tongue, waiting for the insult she was going to throw at him any moment now... any second... 

"Inuyasha? Are we going to stay here all day, or are we actually going start moving? We still have to find out where we are and-"

"Yeah, well you're face is disgusting. too... wench...?!" His perfect comeback came to a grinding halt as he realised she'd never actually insulted him once in that whole phrase...

The air turned cold as Kagome stopped by the door to turn and glare at him.

"Why you, you ...JERK!!!"

Inuyasha spent the next five minutes dodging the pieces of marble throne Kagome hurled at him.

*~*~*~*~*


	5. Poison

Chris-san: I'm REALLY sorry this took so long. To all my faithful fans, thanks for waiting, to all you newbies, hope you enjoy!! 

*~*~*~*~*

Legend of the Labyrinth: Chapter 5

By: Chris-san

*~*~*~*~*

After the stoning, Kagome and Inuyasha headed outside to the great outdoors once again. The sky was still a perfect sapphire blue, broken only by the wheeling sea-birds over head. Judging by the sun, it was already mid-morning. From their more elevated view point, Kagome noted that the temple was located at the tip of a peninsula, surrounded by jutting cliffs and wild flowers. Further down the coast, she could see the land stretching for miles to form bulging mountains, turned gray by the haze of day. Nestled in the small bay where the peninsula met the mainland was a small, quaint village. 

  
And yes, Kagome decided it must be mainland. In fact, judging by the descriptions she had heard sailors tell, this was Sounion, where the main temple of Poseidon was situated. Well, at least they didn't have to worry about catching any more ships. They could walk to Delphi from here, along the coast. It would only take them...the rest of the season. 

Squinting at the small village again, Kagome felt her stomach rumble. She was famished, yesterday's breakfast had ended up in a bucket on that ship, and now their money had joined it on the bottom of the Mediterranean. She suddenly felt like crying again. 

"So wench, still think stealing is wrong?"

Inuyasha was staring at the little village with a kind of predatorial gleam in his eyes. Kagome bit her lower lip and quickly set her jaw. 

"Yes."

Inuyasha looked at her, eyebrows raised. "What? You'd rather starve to death? Keh!"

"There are other ways than stealing." She said plainly.

"Don't tell me you're gonna go begging for food now. Ha! A great princess like you, a beggar!" His voice was mocking, but he quickly did a double take when Kagome nodded solemnly. 

"Y...You're kidding. You'd actually beg?" 

Kagome took a step forward before turning back to him. With a small smile and a little shrug she said, "Well, I can always repay them later, once I'm a princess again."

And leaving behind a shocked Inuyasha, she followed the path down to the village. 

*~*~*~*~*

"Okay, now where do I start." 

Being a princess, she wasn't exactly used to begging for food. After all, it used to come magically in by the plate full until she was bursting and then some, if she preferred it. What to do... what to do...

"Hup, urg, erp...." Weird straining noises brought Kagome back around to her senses. Looking ahead on the deserted street, she was greeted with an almost comical site. There was an old man, so tiny he barely seemed to make it up to her waist. As she watched, the elderly gentleman dragged a rather heavy looking stool out around the corner before positioning it in front of what Kagome could only guess what his home. He placed it by one of the front shutters, which was hanging crooked on its hinges, and proceeded to climb the ladder and attempt to reach up to the top of the shutter to replace the pin that had once held the top hinge together. He reached and he strained, and he stood on tip toe, but couldn't quite make it. 

Finally, Kagome had enough of watching the poor old guy struggle, and stepping up beside him, easily slipped the pin out of his grasp and placed it in the hole it was made for. The old man stopped, surprised, before spinning around to look at her. Kagome smiled in return, and greeted the man with a polite "Good morning sir." 

The old man blinked at her, once, twice, then gave his head a shake. "G-good morning young lady."

A moment passed. 

Two.

The old guy was still staring at her, scrutinising. Kagome shifted her feet uncomfortably. Should she ask him? There didn't seem to be too many other people around.

"Umm, sir...erm..."

"Oh, I am sorry. Pardon my staring, it's just, I don't believe I've ever seen you around here before. Are you visiting from somewhere?" 

Kagome blinked, "W-well, almost. I was on this ship, you see, and then there was this storm..."

The old man's eyes instantly went all wide and watery. "You were ship wreaked, here! Oh you poor thing. Please, come inside, come inside. My name is Myouga by the way. Come in, come in...."

*~*~*~*~*

Inuyasha was beside himself with shock. "Whaaat! You told him THAT and he just gave you the food!" 

"For the thousandth time, yes! I told him I was travelling, my supplies had been lost, and he said he had more than he needed. Not all people are greedy, suspicious meanies you know. Some of them can be nice." 

"Keh! I'll believe that when I see it!" 

"What? What do you mean? Aren't I nice enough to you?" 

"Keh!" 

They were on the road again, heading north-west along the coast at a leisurely pace, so as not to overheat in the harsh sunlight. Inuyasha was munching on some type of turnip that Kagome wouldn't even think of eating raw, but he didn't seem to mind. It wasn't like they had anything to cook it with either, so she just let him have it. She also noticed he wasn't having as much trouble with the brightness of everything now, which was good. The landscape was pretty rugged, with very few trees growing anywhere. The few that they did pass were twisted and windswept which made them pretty useless for any sort of shade. Luckily, it was almost over. A few more hours and the sun would have set behind the higher mountains of the Spartan peninsula. Good, Kagome thought, because she was hot.

Sniff, sniff sniff....

Inuyasha stopped moving and lifted his head up just slightly to catch the breeze. Kagome watched him curious. "What is it?"

He stopped smelling and scowled, instantly suspicious. "I don't know." he said. 

"What do you mean? Why are you smelling it then?"

Inuyasha spared her a sideways glare before taking up a slightly broader stance and focusing back on the smell. Not human, not animal, but it was coming closer, fast. Inuyasha began to growl. 

"Well, well. I should have expected no better. Travelling with a human. Pathetic."

After nearly jumping out of their sandals, Inuyasha and Kagome both whirled around to see a man suspended in air about twenty feet above and behind them. 

Well almost. 

Kagome gasped. This man had white hair, dark streaks on both cheeks, and...was that fluffy thing a, a...tail?? Out of the corner of her eye she watched Inuyasha take up a definite fighting stance, claws and fangs bared and at the ready. He was growling now, fiercely, and continued to do so even as the mysterious being suddenly dropped out of the sky and landed soundlessly before them, without ever so much as twitching an eyebrow. Kagome couldn't help but be slightly impressed. She was about to introduce herself as was proper, but Mr.Zero-Gravity spoke first. 

"So, Inuyasha, will you give it up willingly, or shall I have to put you in your place like the pathetic half-breed that you are?"

Kagome's high opinion of "Fluffy" was instantly thrown out the proverbial window. Inuyasha wasn't impressed either.

"Keh, what are you talking about, bastard. Who are you? I want to have your name for when I tell people how I ripped you to shreds."

Not a bad comeback. I mean, you have to consider the guy had spent most of his life in isolation. Tail-man remained unfazed. 

"Ignorant, but then I expected no less from a useless half-freak, even if he is half my half-freak-brother." 

Damn this guy was smooth, wait... "Brother!!?!"

Inuyasha hadn't stopped growling. Mystery man answered without even sparing a glance at Kagome.

"Yes, _half_-brother. My name is Sesshoumaru, first born son of Inushiro, and unlike you, wothless hanyou, I am a full God-beast." 

Inuyasha's growl wavered, for just a split second. Kagome's jaw hit the dirt. "W-wait a minute! He had TWO sons! Inuyasha, why didn't you tell me you had a half brother? Why didn't anybody tell me..."

"SHUT UP, WENCH!" Kagome closed her mouth so quickly it made an audible clap like sound. Before her, the two half brothers continued to stare each other down. 

"Keh, you're lying. There's no way I could be related to a stuck up prick like you. Now who are you really? Why are you here?" 

The guy-who-Inuyasha-didn't-believe-was-his-brother shot him a cool glare, then his eyes turned mocking. 

"Humph. I know your human blood makes you weak, Inuyasha, but I highly doubt that you cannot smell the similarities within our blood." A slight, indifferent shrug. "However, if you choose to ignore the relation between us, all the better for me. I will not become known as the half-brother of such a pathetic creature. As for my reasons for coming here, it is simple. You have the Tetsusaiga, I want it. Will you give it over peacefully, or shall I pry it from your cold, dead claws?" 

While Inuyasha took a moment to digest this pansy's flowery speech, Kagome spoke up.

"Hold on! How are we supposed to give you a Tetsus-whatever thing if we don't even know what that is? And in case you haven't noticed, we don't exactly have anything of value on us. Just some food and our clothes..." She looked contemplative for a moment," ...Oh, and that sword Inuyasha's father left him, but that's all rusty any ways. It's perfectly useless."

For once, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru both looked directly at her. Inuyasha glared at her for calling something of his useless. Sesshoumaru huffed and said, "Shows what you know, worthless mortal. The blade of my father could kill a hundred lesser beings one swing. Lesser beings just like yourself, or a pathetic half-breed."

His gaze shifted back over to Inuyasha, who hadn't moved an inch out of his fighting stance. 

"What say you, Inuyasha. A bastard-half-thing like yourself will never learn the mastery of my fathers fang. Give it to me, and I might let you live." 

Now how would you respond to a threat like that?

"Half-thing, huh? I'll show you! This half-thing is more than you'll ever be able to handle, fucking bastard! Now are you going to fight me, or are your flowery words all planted in bullshit?" 

  
Kagome instantly felt the urge to back up or risk getting caught in the middle of a God-beast battle. 

"So you choose to fight? Good. I was hoping for an excuse to put an end to your miserable existence." 

They flew at each other. Literally. Sesshoumaru summoned some kind of whip thing from his right hand, flicking it to deflect a blow from Inuyasha's claws. Kagome couldn't believe the speed. Sure, she had known Inuyasha was fast, but this was incredible. Unfortunately, Sesshoumaru seemed to be faster. Block punch flick tap kick swipe block flip step dodge block step swipe... Kagome swallowed a lump of fear as the elder demon sent Inuyasha flying with a flick of his wrist. He flew through some shrubs, hit a few rocks, and was back on his feet in seconds.

"Humph, pathetic." 

"BASTARD! DIE!!"

Kick dodge step swipe block swipe flick...

Another deep furrow in the ground as Inuyasha was sent plowing . Kagome grimaced, brows knit with worry. Sesshoumaru didn't look like he was fighting seriously yet, he was just toying with Inuyasha, and he was winning. What happened when he got tired of it? There had to be something Inuyasha could do...

"Inuyasha!!" 

Huh?

What did that wench want now? 

"Use the sword Inuyasha, the sword!"

"Huh??" 

Had she lost her mind? The thing was useless! 

"Inuyasha! Look out!!" 

Too late. 

He found himself pinned to the ground, his throat in Sesshoumaru's hand. Not good. 

"Understand this, Inuyasha, a worthless half breed like you will never be able to master my father's fang." 

Next to his head, Sesshoumaru's right hand was dripping some kind of green liquid, which melted the ground on contact. Shit. Shit, shit, shit!

"Get off of him!!" 

And suddenly, Sesshoumaru was gone. A gray object went sailing over Inuyasha. He blinked, a rock? Kagome was throwing rocks at the demon?!! 

"You big bully! You just can't accept the fact that Inuyasha's father chose him instead of you! You're like a jealous two year old!!"

"KAGOME!" 

Inuyasha sat up, his gaze darting between the human wench and the full god beast, who was now standing just a few feet away. She really was insane! Hell, she was holding a glaring match with Sesshoumaru, and they were even! Suddenly, Inuyasha respected her that much more. 

"Humph," Sesshoumaru voiced his amusement. "So, mortal, you would defend this half-thing. Interesting..." He trailed off as Inuyasha started to growl, then a smirk crossed his face. 

"Do you desire him, mortal?" 

"Wh-WHAT!!"

Now it was Kagome's turn to be struck speechless. Obviously he didn't mean it, so what game was he playing now? She didn't have a chance to consider...

"Asshole!! Take this...!!" 

Sesshoumaru effortlessly dodged the attack and caught Inuyasha by his neck again. A turn, a smooth movement of his arm, and Inuyasha was sent flying through the air. He heard Kagome's cry, felt himself hit something, and then keep moving. 

When he had finally stopped, that something was still underneath him. It didn't take three guesses to figure out what it was, the smell told him instantly, "Kagome!"

He was off her in an instant. Kagome curled up on her side and clutched her stomach, the wind completely knocked out of her. Inuyasha was about to say something, when a pale green light shone beside him, and he was thrown back by Sesshoumaru's whip. He rolled to a stop, before getting back up to his feet, slightly slower this time. 

"You bastard, you did that on purpose!!" He made a gesture to Kagome, who was now directly between the two brothers.

"Humph," was Sesshoumaru's immediate response. "It was her choice to defend you, so she will die."

"W-WHAT!!" 

Sesshoumaru, however, was already moving on his stunned prey. 

"Shit! Sesshoumaru!!" Inuyasha ran, but there was no way he could be faster than that whip. Leaping, he made a desperate swipe...

...and something happened. Suddenly, the tips of his claws shone bright, leaving horizontal arcs of energy as they passed through the air. Strangely enough, they looked to be made of lightning, and deflected the whip like nothing at all. Sesshoumaru was forced to jump, gracefully, out of their path, as Inuyasha landed lightly beside Kagome and stared at his hand. 

"Wh...what the..." was all he breathed. That had NEVER happened before, this power, where had it come from??

"Inu...Inuya, sha." Kagome was looking up at him, weakly. Apparently, she had managed to get back some of her ability to breathe, and she was moving again. Inuyasha let out a breathe he hadn't known he'd been holding. 

"Stupid Wench! What did you think you were doing, attacking that demon. Do you WANT to die?!" 

Kagome smile instantly turned into a scowl, but she couldn't afford to waste any breath on yelling at him. Instead, she turned her gaze back to the already mentioned demon. 

He was standing off to the side, looking just the tiniest bit shocked. "Lighning...the bastard can summon lightning, a power only the highest of gods posses..."

Inuyasha was yelling, "Oi, Asshole. Don't tell me you've had enough already! What are you, scared?" 

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. "...he must die."

Quicker than the eye could see, the full demon was upon him, and Inuyasha suddenly had the impression he'd pulled the wrong string. The bastards style was completely different from before, and instead of calm and emotionless, his eyes were bright with fury. Inuyasha found himself constantly on the defense, doing slightly less than running for his life. The demon was fast, monstrously fast. Within a matter of seconds, the hanyou was wounded and bleeding from several places on his arms and shoulder. They stung like fire, but he ignored them and focused on the enemy. One slip up, and he was dead. 

His hip felt warm too. At first, Inuyasha just passed it off as another slight wound, but as time went on, it didn't start to burn like the others. Instead, it began to pulse and move against him. 

The two fighters broke apart, Inuyasha gasping for breath. Behind the sound of blood rushing though his ears, he could make out Kagome yelling encouragement at him. His hip still felt strangely warm, and then his hand brushed up against the hilt of the sword. 

It was alive! Well, at least that was Inuyasha's first thought, for the weapon pulsed of its own mysterious heartbeat. Below the hilt, the sheath of the sword was almost hot with the effort of containing the power of the demon blade. Inuyasha found himself drawn to it, as if the blade were calling to him. 

Sesshoumaru was eyeing Inuyasha's hip with a glare that could melt steel. The power, it was there, just barely contained below the surface. If Inuyasha drew that sword...

The half demon's hand moved to grasp the hilt one more time... 

Sesshoumaru was already upon him, hand raised to strike... 

It hit flesh, lots of it. Claws dripping with poison, tearing through blood veins and delicate internal organs. Kagome's scream was drowned out only by Inuyasha's own pained howl as the force of the blow spun him in the air before bringing him down on his side, hard. Inuyasha had never known such pain. It was agony raking up and down his body, shooting through muscles, seeping into bones. It hurt so much, he couldn't scream, couldn't think, couldn't even breathe. 

"You monster!... Inuyasha!" 

Someone was there, trying to touch him, hurt him more. Monster, that was his name. Gasping brutally, he brought his arm about in a wide arc to push whoever it was away. It hurt, but it also brought him to his senses. He wasn't dead yet, and he was still in danger. The sword was practically burning into his side, the sheath slick with his own blood. 

He grabbed it by the hilt and pulled.

Kagome's new glaring contest with Sesshoumaru was cut short as a blast of light erupted behind her. She had been standing in front of Inuyasha ever since he'd pushed her away, trying to think of someway to run from the full demon without getting both of them killed. She wasn't having much luck, but for the moment, her presence alone seemed enough to stun him into inertia. Then, the light had appeared, and both she and Sesshoumaru instantly spun around to stare at Inuyasha. 

She hadn't seen it, but for a moment, the god beast was showing an emotion, and it was almost fear. 

Inuyasha was standing, shakily, his hands tightly clasped around the hilt of a giant blade forged in the shape of a fang. It gleamed crimson in the setting sun, thirsting for blood. 

Sesshoumaru's face again became serious as he focused on the power within. 

"So, useless halfling, you have managed to reveal the true shape of the Fang...how futile..."

Kagome watched in amazement as the demon's eyes flashed red. Then, he vanished into a bright ball of light, which flew up into the sky. It stopped, hovering, before crashing back to earth with enough force to leave a small crater. Kagome blocked her eyes from the intense light that followed. When she looked up again, there was no ball, and no white hared   
man. Instead, there was an enormous white dog, staring down at her from towering heights. Kagome held her breath. 

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!" 

It took Kagome a moment to realize that this growl was actually coming from behind her. Inuyasha was still standing. It seemed he had forced all his remaining strength into his limbs, forcing them to move. Kagome gulped. "Inuyasha..."

It was like a signal. Sesshoumaru pounced, Inuyasha leapt, Kagome closed her eyes, to afraid to see the outcome. It seemed like ages. A growl, a clash, another growl, and then the sound of something being cut...

"Inuyasha..."

The roar that filled the air was deafening, reaching up to the heavens, Kagome was sure it even shook the moon. Which meant it couldn't have belonged to him, it couldn't have belonged to...

Kagome opened her eyes just in time to see Inuyasha bring his sword across to slash at the full demon's chest. The god beast had reared up on it's hind legs, bleeding heavily from the place his right forelimb no longer was. The force of the attack pushed him backwards and he toppled over the edge the high coastal cliffs. 

There was no splash. Kagome ran to the edge to see why, only to discover he was gone, vanished into thin air. 

Behind her, someone gasped. Inuyasha stood, covered in his own blood, panting as he held his stomach in one hand, sword in another. Kagome watched as the blade seemed to vaporize, shrinking quietly back into an old rusted sword once again. 

Just as quietly, Inuyasha stopped moving, went limp, and fell. 

"INUYASHA!!"

*~*~*~*~*

"Brover, wanna come play wif me?"

"No"

"Come on, pleeeeese?" 

"No."

"Why not?" 

"Because Prince's can't play with monsters."

"Monster?"

"Yes. Father told me, your dad was a monster. That makes you a monster too. I can't play with you."

"...But...but...Mommy's not a monster."

"Father said that the monster came and tricked Mother into loving him. That's why she had you."

"But she's still not a monster." 

"So you're half monster then, I still can't play with you. Father says one day you're going to turn evil and start killing people. Then we'll have to kill you, so I can't like you, and I can't play with you."

"But...but...I-I don't wanna kill people!!"

"You will. You're half monster remember?" 

"Stop it!"

"See, you're getting violent already!"

"....."

"Maybe we should kill you now, before you turn evil, and hurt Mother or Father."

"No, wait, Brover!!"

"Don't call me brother, monster."

"Look there he is, there's the monster!"

"W...wait!"

"Let's get him! Attack!"

"STOP IT!!"

"Look out! He'll kill you! Run!!' 

"Don't get close, I'll attack him with the arrows."

"NO!!"

"Everyone else attack him once he's wounded."

"STOP!!"

"Oh my god! You killed him!" 

"MONSTER!!"

"Get him!"

"AHHHH!!!"

"Monster"

*~*~*~*~*

"Inuyasha" 

"Monsser...ungh..."

"Inuyasha..." He was having a nightmare, she realized. Eyebrows furrowed in concern, Kagome brought her hand up to stroke his cheek.

He flinched and instantly tried to twist away. "...I?...n...evl...why?" He whimpered and Kagome decided she'd heard enough. Setting the water skin and rag down, she reached up with both hands and trapped his thrashing head between her palms. He began to protest, arching his back slightly, his arms flailing weakly out from his sides. Kagome grimaced and set to work, lightly tapping his cheeks to wake him up. 

When he did, his golden eyes shot up and his mouth opened wide, breath stuck somewhere between a huge gasp and a silent scream of terror. His eyes darted around frantically, looking for his pursuers, his tormentors, the humans from his dreams. Kagome felt the skin under her hands become slick with new sweat as he saw her. So close... 

"Inuyasha?" 

She was so close...too close, she wanted to hurt him, kill him, hunt him. He could still hear their voices. He tried to push her away but his arms..."

"Inuyasha." 

His arms wouldn't move. They were weighted down, as if made of lead. His whole body was made of lead, yet it burned like fire too. Pain, pain was everywhere. He had to get away, she was so close. So close. She was shaking him.

"Inuyasha!" 

The back of his head hit something. He knew it wasn't hard, and yet oddly enough he saw stars for a moment. Closing his eyes he waited for it to pass, going limp. When he opened them again, it was just Kagome, there, holding his head in her hands...wait a minute. 

"Get off me, wench! Don't touch me." 

He tried to swipe her away, but his body still felt like metal and fire. Kagome gave a small, relieved sigh before leaning back and releasing her hold on him. "You're okay..."

She said it like a statement, instead of another one of her annoying questions. "Keh! Sorrry to disappoint you, bitch." 

Her relieved face turned into a stern frown and she shot him a pointed glare. Then she let out another sigh, this one of fatigue, before reaching down to pick up her cloth and water skin and returning to her task. 

Inuyasha almost jolted out of his skin when he felt something cold brush against the searing flesh of his stomach. Wait a minute, hadn't he been wearing a shirt before...

"Don't move Inuyasha, I don't want to hurt you any more than you already are. There's something in your wounds that's keeping them open. I think it's poison. I'm trying to get it out."

Inuyasha remembered the green stuff dripping from the bastard's claws.

"Don't touch me!"

Kagome paused, then looked up at him, surprised and maybe even a little hurt. "Inuyasha, I don't know what this stuff is, but we have to get it out..."

"Stupid, I said I'm fine. I don't need your help!"

Kagome stared at him in disbelieve for a few more seconds. Then suddenly, she moved, placing the wet cloth against his wound.

Inuyasha jumped, yet again, the muscles under the cloth contracting violently despite their injury. Inuyasha let out a loud shout-hiss in pain and Kagome froze. "Inuyasha?" 

"Fucking bitch...grrrrrrrrrrr!"

Kagome scowled at him and grit her teeth. What was his problem? Yes, he hated her. Yes he thought she was an annoying wench, and a bitch. But she was trying to help HIM and the sooner he quit playing his childish games and let her, the sooner it would be over. She tried again, and again he pulled away, hissing and snarling like some wild animal.

"Fuck, damn, stupid..." he froze, held his breath, then let it out in a rush. "What are you trying to do, kill me?"

"Oh stop being a baby, it's only water."

"I don't care what it is, I don't need you poking around my wounds bitch I can take care of myself!"

"Fine then."

He flinched again as she dropped the rag down on his stomach and stood up. At first, he thought she was going to leave him, alone, wounded, and walk away. Then, however, she picked up a pile of dry sticks and tossed them on the dying fire, stoking it until it returned to a bright and merry blaze. She sat down and turned her back to him, unmoving, and stared out at the sea as it twinkled in the moonlight. Inuyasha realized that _should_ have been his cue to pick up the rag and begin cleaning his wounds, however, he remained still.

Because the truth was, he couldn't move. His limbs still felt heavy, as if they'd been tied down, but he knew they hadn't. It was the poison, he realized. Coursing through his veins, it paralyzed him, leaving him weaker than a new born baby. Pathetic. He also realized he should probably get the rest of the poison out before any more of it got into his blood stream, but how? It took almost all his strength to bring his lethargic hand up level with the top of his stomach. It was shaking with exertion. Dammit he was sweating and his throat was desert dry. His hand gave up the venture and dropped back to the ground. It stayed there no matter how he cursed at it or commanded it to move. Fuck this! Fuck that asshole Sesshoumaru. This was all his fault. Fuck him to Hades. 

Kagome turned around when she noticed Inuyasha growling. To her surprise, he hadn't moved yet, but then, if he could move, he probably would have forcefully removed her from him, instead of simply yelling at her. Heaving another frustrated sigh, she moved back over to him, wincing slightly at the stiffness in her ribs. Wordlessly she picked the bloody rag back up and poured some more clean water over it, rinsing it out. She was about to place it on the wound when his voiced stopped her. 

"Kagome..."

She paused and looked at him. His eyes were closed, cheeks slightly flushed in the firelight.

"Can I... can I have some water?"

Kagome blinked, "Oh...of course." Stupid, why hadn't she thought of that sooner? Of course he would be thirsty. But then, come to think of it, why did it take him so long to ask? and why did he sound so...ashamed? Pushing the thought aside, she wondered how she was going to lift his head up enough for him to drink without breaking his rule of "no touching." Finally, she just leaned down and slipped her hand under both his head and the ruined shirt it was thinly pillowed on. Holding him up, she awkwardly brought the skein to his lips and let him drink his fill. 

Slumping down onto his tiny "pillow" again, Kagome listened to him breath a slight sigh of relief. It seemed a very strange sound to be coming out of Inuyasha, peaceful, soft. The moment was ruined the second Kagome snatched the cloth and absentmindedly wiped the sweat from his forehead. The brief contact make him tense and angry again. On a completely different note, Kagome realized that his fever was back up. 

"It must be the poison again," she thought. Aloud she said, "Like it or not, Inuyasha, I'm going to have to clean out that wound of yours. Just sit still and I'll be done as soon as I can." He grunted in response, and Kagome, once again, rinsed the cloth out. 

The second it touched his skin, he did that muscle jerk thing again. His jaw and throat muscles constricted to bite back his vocal reaction of curses and shouts. Kagome ignored it and gently dabbed at the wound, sweating herself. She hated hurting him like this, but it was his own fault, and the wound had to be cleaned. He hadn't stopped straining against her hand, in fact, he was holding his breath, letting it out in ragged gasps whenever he dared. 

Breathing a sigh of her own relief, she finished cleaning one deep scratch and removed the cloth. Instantly, Inuyasha went slack, panting as though he'd just run all the way to Marathon and back. Kagome cleaned off the rag, squeezed it out, and wet it again. She was just about to move on to the next scratch when she saw Inuyasha tense, a hair's breath below her hand the muscle gave as spasm, then began quivering uncontrollably.

Kagome stopped, and stared. She hadn't even touched him yet, how could it be painful already? Besides, it was just water, it shouldn't sting or anything. 

He was still trembling, eyes closed, fists clenched. She waited, and after a moment, he opened one eye to see what was taking so long. The shimmering gold orb took one look at the proximity of her hand and slammed itself shut again. The tremors doubled, and suddenly, it dawned on her. In the labyrinth when she'd tripped and hit him, on the street when he'd been unexpectedly bumped or pushed, his violent reactions weren't merely because he was temperamental. 

The truth was, he was absolutely terrified of being touched, by anyone. Kagome bit her lower lip in sympathy. He had been alone all his life, the only people physically close to him were terrified prisoners, who had been fighting against him for their lives. Human contact was something completely unnatural and foreign to him, of course he would fear it, especially when he was wounded like this, vulnerable. She pulled her hand away. 

"Inuyasha."

At the movement, his eyes snapped open and he suddenly seemed almost relived, but then stopped. 

"Oi, wench! I thought you were going to do it as fast as you could. What are you, a slug?"

She didn't respond, just sat there, staring at her lap. Inuyasha hated being ignored.

"Hey, bitch..."

How could she do this. She had to clean the wound, but she didn't want to hurt him. Maybe she could let him do it by himself...no wait, they'd tried that...Aha!! 

"Kagome?"

Her head suddenly snapped back up and her eyes met his. She smiled, her hand going down to grasp at his and lift it up onto her lap. He furrowed his brows, unsure of what she was doing, when she suddenly pulled his fist open and placed the piece of cloth in his palm. The fingers of her smaller hand slid along behind his, tips brushing deadly claws without so much as a stutter of hesitation. Her other hand grasped his wrist gently but firmly, then lifted it up and brought it out over Inuyasha's stomach. Her fingers manipulated his, moving his hand, bringing it down. 

Inuyasha didn't flinch. It felt weird, true, Kagome moving his hand in hers so he could clean his wound, but it was a different type of weird. The shock of cool water on his hot skin wasn't nearly as unexpected now that he knew exactly where and when it was going to be, even if he wasn't controlling it. He actually thought it felt good...a little. The burning sensation was lessened, and the pressure of Kagome's hands was gentle, soft.

"There! I think that's done!"

Inuyasha blinked as she set his hand back down at his side and released it from her grasp. He felt a tingle where her hands had been, and was almost able to imagine that they were still there. 

*~*~*~*~* 


	6. Wine and Merriment!

Chapter 6 

*~*~*~*~*

Three days later, as the chariot of Apollo began its downward descent, they arrived in Athens, the greatest of all city States.

Cough, "Disgusting, smelly humans!" Cough. 

…and neither of them was in a good mood. 

"Inuyasha will you stop complaining. It's not that bad!" 

"Bah! You're just saying that cause you're one of them!" His disguise was making him cranky again in the crowded streets. Damn humans.

Growl, "Inuyasha…"

"Keh!"

Kagome sighed. Okay, maybe the market did smell a little bit, but even then, it was making her hungry. All around her people were buying and selling food, and she needed some, desperately. 

"Inuyasha, be quiet. You're supposed to be a helpless old woman, remember?" 

Snarl, snarl, grumble, snarl. 

Kagome shook her head and allowed herself another sigh. Nothing had changed. The morning after the fight, he'd woken up, perfectly "fine" and as charming as ever. The only difference was that he now sported a large gash in his middle which had yet to heal completely. Kagome hadn't been much better. A cool night spent passed out flat on a rock plateau had made her bruised ribs unbearably stiff. The next day, she couldn't sit up (and still breathe at the same time) and bending over had been impossible. Even now, her whole chest was simply a gruesome shade of blackish blue.

"Look, do you want food or not? If you do, shut up or I'll never be able to figure out how to get it."

"Keh! Its right there, moron. You just stick your hand out and grab it! Then we can leave."

Kagome felt her eyebrow twitch. "We are not stealing Inuyasha, it isn't nice." 

"Oooooh, it isn't nice-"

"How would you like it if someone came along and, oh I don't know, stole your sword? What would you do?" 

Inuyasha growled. "Keh! You know what I'd do. I'd rip his fucking arm off! Bastard Sesshoumaru!!" Grumble, grumble, snarl…

Kagome let her shoulders slump in defeat. This, was getting them nowhere, and she was so hungry she could hardly see straight. Food, if only she could get food! Hell, she could probably have eaten one of those radishes she had hated so much, if only they had some left. Unfortunately, their meager supplies had run out around noon yesterday. She was so hungry, she almost didn't notice when someone yelled out "DEMON!!" 

"Ahhhh! It's the demon!"

"Run for your lives!!"

Huh?

A few shrieks went up, and people began running. Kagome's first thought was that Inuyasha had blown his cover. However, that theory went down the drain when people began running into them in an effort to get away from whatever the real danger was. The first one bumped into her sore ribs, the second sent her stumbling backwards into Inuyasha, who let out a light grunt. They were quickly surrounded as more people flitting past the pair, carelessly whacking them with their goods and flapping toga's. Before long, Inuyasha's patience was at an end. Within seconds, the cloak was off as Inuyasha leapt into the air, leaving Kagome behind to fend for herself in the raging stream of people. He spotted the demon almost instantly, a giant pinky ball floating just above the tent tops of the market. 

"Oi you!"

The demon didn't react. It pointedly ignored him, and continued floating in the air. 

"Hey! You! Fucking bastard, Don't ignore me!"

That said, he charged. 

*~*~*~*~*

Meanwhile, Kagome slowly getting beaten down by the crowd. Her front side had been hit repeatedly, the pain causing her to double over, and run slower than the others. She was just at the point where she was about to get trampled, when someone stepped in front of her, and pulled her up to her feet. 

Kagome found herself being pressed firmly, but gently, against the warm wall of a man's chest. In fact, the warm, protective hold felt so much like a fond embrace, Kagome found herself blushing furiously by the time the crowd had passed, leaving her and her mysterious protector alone on the abandoned street. Furiously she fought to get a hold of herself while she waited for her savior to release her from the hold. 

She waited…

…and waited…

…and waited…

…and then something that felt suspiciously like a hand began rubbing itself against her butt…

*~*~*~*~*

"WaaaaaahhhhHH!"

Inuyasha watched, confused as the large floating demon suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke, replacing it with a…a… 

"What the hell are you?"

It was a boy, well at least it looked like a boy, minus the fluffy tale and animal hind legs. If you looked at those he looked more like a…a… Oh well, Inuyasha couldn't quite remember, but it was an animal of some sort. Curious, he released it's tail to hold it up by the foot instead, then the arm, then the hair. The hair, now that held something. It was almost orange, was that important? He couldn't remember... 

"Eeeek! Put me down you big jerk! Wahhhhh! Miroku!!"

…it certainly was loud whatever it was…

"Shippo!"

Huh? 

Inuyasha turned his head lazily to watch the arrival of some guy with a black robe, a pony tail, and a red hand print on his face. Another strange looking guy…

"Oi, you know him?" Inuyasha aimed a finger at the kicking ball of fur in his hand. 

The man didn't answer. He stood there, and regarded Inuyasha from a distance, a dangerous, calculating glint in his eyes that Inuyasha had seen more than once, and had come to hate. He growled. 

As if he had received a cue, the strange man turned to the side and walked purposefully over to the nearest, abandoned vendor's stand. He stopped just short, giving a quick examination of the thin support pole before him. A swipe of his arm cause the whole stand to collapse in a horrendous crash as jars and beams broke and splintered. The man stared at the mess curiously, then at the pole in his hand, then at the mess. Then he shrugged and walked calmly back out into the middle of the street as if nothing had happened. 

"Miroku! Help! He's going to eat me!! Heeeelp!!" The brat ended in a high pitched squeak that hurt Inuyasha's ears. 

The man took up a fighting stance as his eyes locked with Inuyasha's own. Recognizing the threat, Inuyasha let the brat go and deepened his growl. The man spoke. 

"Demon, if you do not leave us in peace, then in the name of Dionysus, you meet your doom here, with I, Miroku of the order of high priests." 

Inuyasha smirked, boy did this guy seem cocky. "Keh! This Dionysus must be a real wimp, 'cause I've never heard of him!"

Miroku raised an eyebrow. Looking slightly offended, he challenged, "Oh? And who might you be then, to scoff the name of a god?"

Monster. Murderer. Worthless Hanyou. 

Inuyasha allowed his eyes to narrow and pushed those thoughts out of his head. "Inuyasha…" Reaching for the blade at his side, he drew one foot back, and charged, "Now die!" 

The dramatic effect was ruined, however, when Inuyasha's blunt sword stuck in the wood of the tent pole and refused to go any further. He snarled again, this time at the blade. It was blunt! Why? Why was it still useless?

"Inuyasha? Hmmm, strange name. Can't say I've ever heard it before. Hup!"

The kick came out of nowhere, given that the guys feet were hidden by his robe, and struck Inuyasha dead in the center of his stomach. He slid backwards with the force, pain shooting out from his wounded center as he doubled over, still clutching his sword. 

Damned sword? Why hadn't it changed?

The he remembered the pulse. That's what was missing. Last time it had a pulse. 

Miroku was back on him. Inuyasha dodged by leaping to the side and springing on the recoil. This time, he made to use a horizontal slash. The priest turned his staff and it stuck in sideways. Inuyasha was on the defense again. 

"If you would like to know, Dionysus is the God of Wine and Merriment." No, Inuyasha didn't want to know, but he was too busy dodging to say so. This human fought will a fluent grace that almost matched that cheesy bastard Sesshoumaru, and it was starting to piss Inuyasha off. 

"He's actually quite popular here, second only after Athena. Why people want to worship that celibate brainiak is beyond me. In my opinion Dionysus is much more fun." What on earth was this jerk babbling about. Who Fucking cares?!

"Although, I can see the attraction, I suppose. Nothing is closer to the Elysian Fields than the innocent sigh of a virgin-" 

"Will you SHUT UP!!" Inuyasha was sick and tired of this fucker and his flapping tongue. Enraged, he tossed the sword aside and began using his fists, instantly gaining the upper hand. He drove the priest backwards, pummeling splinters from the old piece of wood between them. Just a little more, and he would have him. Just a little more…

"You know what you need my friend, is a good woman." Miroku panted as he held Inuyasha back. "Hmmm, yes…a young one, of course, long hair, sparkling eyes, and a fiery temperament to match yours. That could help you get rid of some of this energy you seem to have no lack of. "

He made a quick twist and they broke apart. A sudden idea struck Miroku. 

"Come to think of it, I met one on my way here…"

Inuyasha wasn't listening. There had been something about a girl. Something he should be remembering…

"Kagome! Fuck, where did she go?" Inuyasha spun around quickly, but was unable to see her. Scowling, he made a giant leap, and was soon soaring high above the city, busily scanning the streets in the direction she'd been. 

He was glad he did, even if he couldn't see Kagome. In the not so far distance, Inuyasha could make out the flash of swords and shields, slowly headed their way. 

Damn! Soldiers, that was all he needed. 

He landed with a wince, pressing his hand to his stomach, surprised to find it moist. His wound had re-opened again. Fuck! What else could go wrong? Oh yeah, shit. That guy! 

Inuyasha whirled around, prepared and ready to find the bastard trying to sneak attack him from behind…

The man hadn't moved, he just stood there, almost as if he was waiting for Inuyasha to get back into the fight. 

Miroku blinked and took up his staff again. "If you wish to continue…" 

But why? People weren't supposed to wait. They were underhanded, low down bastards who did whatever was necessary to get the job done…

This guy must be planning something. Whatever it was, he could handle it. There were foot soldiers coming. Keh! So he'd handle them too. He was still wounded though. But he wouldn't run away! Where was Kagome? What should he do? 

At that moment, a shrill girlish squeal of delight shattered his thoughts. 

"Awwww! CUTE!!" 

"Hack, Urk…let go, you're strangling… me…"

Inuyasha knew that voice, and Miroku must have too, for within seconds, they were both running for the small alley from where the voices originated. 

What they came upon, was a cooing Kagome, single arm-ed-ly squeezing the life out of a slightly strangled Shippo. 

"Aaaah! Miroku! H-Help me!"

Kagome turned and realised they had an audience. Embarrassed, she let go of the boy, who instantly climbed up to sit at the top of the fruit stand and out of Kagome's reach. 

Kagome looked at Inuyasha and blushed again. "Oh, hi Inuyasha." She gave a small wave. 

"Keh!" Was Inuyasha's reply as he strode up to her. Come on wench, we're leaving." 

"B-but, Inuyasha!"

Miroku took this opportunity to interject, " Excuse me, but do you two know one another?"

Kagome and Inuyasha gave each other a dry look. 

"...I said come on bitch, we have to go. They've called out the fucking army and they're almost here." 

He tried to drag her away as the tailed kid started to scream. "Aaaaah! The army! Miroku!!"

The monk punched the air in an angry gesture. "Dammit, I haven't even had a chance to steal anything yet!"

Blink, blink…

"…I, uh…I mean um…" There was a moments pause before Miroku gave up trying to think of excuses. 

And suddenly, it all fit together inside Inuyasha's head. He whirled on Shippo. "You mean to tell me, you fucking pretended to attack the market so this blabbering asshole could steal from it when everyone ran away?!" 

Shippo gave the obvious knee jerk reaction, "Eeek! Help Meee!!" and leapt for the security of Kagome's arms. She caught him, wincing as he landed against her bruised flesh. The sac she had been carrying slipped from her hand and hit the ground with a suspiciously heavy thud.

A silence, before Miroku raised his hand to stroke his chin thoughtfully. "Seems like we weren't the only ones, now were we."

Inuyasha stared in disbelief as the fruit rolled on the ground. "Ka-Kagome!!?!" 

Kagome's, blush of embarrassment and guilt deepened substantially. "Um, well…I was hungry…a-and I thought…"

"B-but…you're the bitch going on about how bad it was to steal!!" Inuyasha still couldn't believe his ears, or his eyes. 

Fortunately the topic was stopped there as Miroku slid up next to Kagome, who was too embarrassed to notice…

"Ah! A woman after my own heart!" He cooed as he placed his arms around her. "Do you believe it when they say 'great sex comes when people think alike?'" 

Kagome's eyes bugged out of her sockets for just a moment before she turned and raised her hand…

Kapow!!!

Kagome stopped in shock. The man she had been about to slap was now wearing a fruit stand, and in his place was…

…Inuyasha's fist?? "I-Inuyasha?"

He was staring at his fist, the amount of shock in his expression easily matching Kagome's own. Why he had done that, he didn't know. Somehow, just seeing him like that, with her…Kagome…

The instant he met her eyes, his face fell dead pan once again and his fist dropped. He turned away and crossed his arms over his chest. "Keh! Annoying Asshole!" 

The moment was further ruined by a pained groan as Miroku detached himself from the fruit stand. He wavered a moment, before giving his head a shake and straightening up. 

"My apologies, for sure. I had no idea she was already accounted for-" 

"Keh! Like I care for a wench like her!" Inuyasha's voice was just slightly too vehement. 

Kagome frowned and glared at him. 

Inuyasha refused to look at her. 

Miroku watched this and smirked. He an idea forming in his head…

"…As a gesture of peace, I could offer you lodgings for the night. Our temple is quite cozy, and we always have rooms to spare. You can tend to your wounds, eat as much as you like and we even have warm water baths, if you would care to take…" 

"YES!!" 

Inuyasha's ears flattened at the decibel level, only to perk straight up again afterwards. What had she said?

"We'd love to spend the night at your temple, wouldn't we Inuyasha?"

"Hell NO!!"

"See, he agrees." and before giving him a chance to argue, "Now let's hurry before the army gets here! Inuyasha, can you carry the bag?" 

Inuyasha felt a growl rising in his throat, but clamped down on it as he reached to do what he was told. Humans were just too strange to follow. Kagome was stealing, the monk wasn't trying to kill him, and the kid had a tail. Inuyasha decided he didn't want to face an army at the moment, his head hurt. 

So quietly, he followed behind the group, carrying the bag, and retrieving Tetsusaiga, glaring at all those who dared whisper as he passed. 

*~*~*~*~*

"Why didn't you tell me he was a priest of Dionysus!"

Inuyasha took a step back to avoid the spray off Kagome's hissing. 

"Keh! You're the one who wanted to come here."

Kagome steamed, but realized he was right, so she turned her attention straight ahead, seemingly intent on ignoring him. That was fine with Inuyasha, this way Kagome wouldn't be distracting him. He had all his senses on full alert, searching out possible threats within these strange walls. 

For strange they were. They had just passed from a very large open courtyard into a smaller hallway, and though both were abandoned, they had a smell and feel about them that told him there were used often, and by large groups of people. 

Here the cool marble walls were decorated and painted with the most bizarre images Inuyasha had ever seen. There were images of wooden barrels filled with purplish liquid, and the liquid flowed out and all over the ground and people gathered it up in cups and drank it. They weren't wearing clothes. None of the people in any of the pictures were wearing clothes. And they were all crawling on top of each other, touching, kissing and hugging. Sometimes they were in two's and other times there were three or more, all piled on top of each other. In one of the pictures, a boy with a giant man-part was chasing a very beautiful woman… 

Inuyasha felt his skin crawl at the sight of it. He could never imagine himself getting that close to someone, ever! People were smelly and disgusting! And what the hell were they doing any way? Carefully he speculated the figures bodies, and made note of several things missing on the women, and several of those same things standing up on the men. Was this what they looked like without any clothes on? Were they different like that? He'd never stood up like that. What did it mean? And why was it on a wall? 

And as much as a part of him was disgusted, and a part of him was confused…

…a part of him wanted that… To touch, to be held

… like that night with Kagome…

"Inuyasha!" 

Inuyasha came out of his thoughts to realise the others were slightly ahead of him by now. He had subconsciously stopped to stare at one of the paintings. The one with the boy. Kagome was walking up to him, she looked mad. 

"Ah yes, that one's one of my favourites. There you see Priapus, the son of our Deity, Dionysus." 

By the time Miroku had finished, Kagome had reached Inuyasha. 

"Pervert!" She made a fast yank at one of his white forelocks of hair, and began dragging him away. 

*~*~*~*~*

Kagome sighed as she put on a borrowed white gown and crawled into her bed. It was supposed to be their bed, seeing as how Miroku had said that they could only supply her and Inuyasha with one room. However, when she had protested, Inuyasha had said something about preferring to sleep outside, instead of near the "smelly wench," and gone off in a huff. Kagome had barely seen him since. Not that she cared. Served him right for being a jerk. While everyone else was outside partying and making a racket, Kagome was inside, with a room and a double bed all to herself. Inuyasha could stay out there all night and ogle the naked woman for all she cared. 

Just thinking about that flared her temper. The nerve of those people! She had finally been able to go take her bath, only to discover it wasn't a private bath! There were men everywhere, and when she tried to get them to leave, they just laughed at her. Angrily, she had decided she would just have to bathe with a pair of spare priestess robes on. Why they had them, she didn't know. Certainly no woman around here was qualified to be a priestess. 

In the end, her efforts had been futile. The cloth was white, and once wet, everyone could see every inch of her bruised body. They had quickly grimaced and looked away, and Kagome wasn't sure she should be offended or relieved. To make matters worse, Inuyasha had chosen that moment to walk in, strip, and join her in the water. Kagome had fairly screamed at him to get out, but he had just growled and ripped away the bandages around his stomach. He proceeded to clean his wounds and his clothes, a steady growl in his throat as the echo of whispers bounced off the walls. Kagome briefly noted that he had been bleeding again, before turning back around and staring into the water. A few minutes later he walked out again, shook himself dry, wrung out his clothes and crawled back into them, completely wet. Kagome sighed and then got out as well. Stripped and then changed so that her black and blue, yellow, green and purple front side faced everyone present. Once again, they had quickly looked away.

The rest of her time had been spent mainly in Shippo's company. He was a very sweet little kid, or…demon, or…whatever he was, who managed to look completely innocent, even though Kagome had a very high suspicion that he wasn't. After all, he spent most of his time around Miroku, who had turned out to be more perverted than Kagome could ever have guessed possible. During dinner he and another so called priest had held a debate of which position they each thought was better. What made it even more freaky was that they were both incredibly calm, fluent and civil while doing it. A fact that turned Kagome's list of morals upside down and backwards. If it hadn't been several months since she had last eaten a hot meal, she would have lost her appetite. 

The moment it began to turn dark, people had started arriving at the temple. They came in groups of twos and threes, consisted mostly of beautiful young women, and always left everything but their sandals at the door. Kagome now understood why the priests had all been carrying large staffs around since dinner time. It seemed that there was a limit on how many men could be allowed into the temple compared to how many woman, and all of them had to be young, handsome and fit. Of course, not everyone turned away left peacefully, and soon, there were as many unconscious men outside, as there were naked women inside, if not more. 

Kagome hadn't stayed long after that. The wine kegs were open, people were drunk. and she wanted nothing to do with it. Now, she was just about to doze off when there was a loud banging at the door. 

"Dammit wench! Let me in or I'll break the door!!"

Inuyasha? What did he want? Out in the hall there was a moan, a giggle and then Inuyasha's voice "Hey! Watch where you're going you assholes! KAGOME!!!"

She sighed, so much for a private room. "Hang on, I'm coming."

Wincing, she used all her strength to lift the heavy door bar from it's perch, which she had put there in case of drunken perverted men. No sooner had she done this then the door was wrenched open and Inuyasha fairly ran into the room. He bumped her. She swayed, tilted, and then started to fall. She hit the floor and expected to be squashed a moment later by a heavy door bar, only to find she wasn't. When she opened her eyes, Inuyasha had single handedly caught the bar, holding it out as if it were a feather. He grunted something, and then turned to place the bar securely back in it's holdings on the door. 

Kagome stood up wincing, "Well, what do you want?" 

"I'm sleeping here tonight."

"WHAT!" 

She screamed it so loud his ears flattened back. He whirled to glare at her before sticking his nose up in a typical "Keh!" gesture. Then, he folded himself up into the darkest corner of the room and closed his eyes. 

Kagome watched this with a sort of half stunned interest before crawling back into her own bed and trying to get to sleep. It was a little difficult though. Inuyasha's annoyed presence seemed to fill the entire room, making it feel crowded and uncomfortable. It didn't help any when he started to huff to himself at odd intervals, and then to growl.

"Inuyasha, will you shut up, I'm trying to sleep." 

"Keh!" was all the reply that came. Something about that felt wrong, but it took Kagome's brain a foggy minute to figure out why. Then she realised.

"That's it?"

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and gave her a funny look. Kagome scrutinised him. That was it? No wench, no insults, no comment about her smell? Not to mention the fact that he'd just been growling. "Are you feeling okay, Inuyasha?"

"I'm FINE WENCH!! Go to sleep!" He snapped, and Kagome could sense his tension mounting. In the pale moonlight, she could make out the scabbard of his sword resting on his shoulder. Even from this distance, every thing about him, from the way he was sitting to the random flicking of his ears suggested he was tense. She was about to ask him about it, when the bed in the next room began banging against the wall in a tell-tale rhythm. Inuyasha's growling became instantly louder as he jumped to his feet and began screaming at the wall. 

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!!"

He looked for all the world like he was about ready to attack something, and Kagome began to worry. Trying to stay calm, she said, "Inuyasha, just ignore it. They'll stop in a minute…"

She knew it was a bad choice of words when he turned to her. 

"Ignore it! FUCK! I've done nothing but listen to THAT ALL NIGHT!! It's not only them! It's the people down the hall, and across it, and even in the FUCKING courtyard!! And it's driving me INSANE!!" I HATE IT! I HATE THIS PLACE! I HATE PEOPLE! I HATE THEIR NOISE! I HATE THEIR SMELL! I HATE THEIR DISGUSTING DRINK! I HATE THE WAY THEY FEEL! I HATE EVERYTHING! AND IT'S DRIVING ME INSANE!!!"

"He looks it," Kagome thought, fear in her heart. He had brought his hands to his skull, squishing his palms over the furry triangles and flattening them to his cranium. His body was tense, fingers fisting into his hair in frustration, claws scratching at his scalp, arms shaking in tension. A flushed face, red with emotion and anger stared at her, counteracted by two of the most desperate eyes Kagome had ever seen. 

"He's throwing a tantrum like a two year old," she thought, then, "He's been overwhelmed." She knew she had to help him or he really would go nuts. It was a little hard to think, however, with his intense gaze on her, begging her, pleading with her to make it stop, make it all go away. She had to bite her tongue to keep her head straight and not give in to the desire to run to him and hug him, or start crying herself. 

"Inuyasha, come here." She found herself acting on instinct anyway, forgetting all the morals and etiquette she had learned about never seeming too forward with men. She patted the bed spread in front of her, smiling a comforting smile. Inuyasha obeyed without a word, his tension seemed spent, or at least moved to focus on his throat and jaw. She could see the muscles jumping in the moonlight. He refused to remove his hands from his head as he sat, cross legged on the bed before her. The banging had finally stopped. 

"Turn around so I face your back." 

Inuyasha spared her a wary glance before obeying, shifting awkwardly without the ability to use his hands. Kagome sighed before bringing her hands up to rub at his wrists. He flinched slightly, but stayed where he was. After a moment he seemed to relax a little. Kagome moved from the back of his hands, slowly down to his fingers, before finally reaching the top of his head. Her fingers worked gently around his, feeling some small bit of triumph as the claws stopped making puncture holes in his scalp and began to relax. This was what she had wanted. Slowly, ever so slowly, the relaxation spread, moving down his finger tips, to his hands, and wrists. He lifted his fingers slightly, giving her more access. 

She made use of it, and rubbed a bit harder, until she finally reached the backs of his furry ears. They were so soft, she thought, just as he pulled his hands away. His ears flicked back to life, and she felt him shudder as they seemed to focus on some sound that only he could here. Instantly the hands were back in place, Kagome's hard work ruined. She sighed and stopped her ministrations, which only made him tense up more. 

But she needed a more permanent solution. Inuyasha couldn't keep his hands on his head for the whole night. Then, she realised she was sitting on one. 

Inuyasha almost jumped at the sound of ripping material. Alertly, he turned around and watched as Kagome twisted something in her hands, and held it out to him. 

"Here, try using these instead of your hands." 

Inuyasha held out a hand and looked at them confused until Kagome made a gesture that he should stuff the little balls of rolled up sheet into his ears. Uncertain, he thought about it a minute more until that same sound hit his ears again. Cautiously, he slipped the little twists into his ears, careful to leave some sticking out so they didn't go too deep. Instantly, he noticed the difference. He could still hear Kagome's shuffling behind him, but nothing outside of the room. He sighed in relief before turning to look back at Kagome. She smiled at him, and asked, "Better?" 

He nodded, and turned once again to face away from her. Kagome continued her ministrations from where she left off, slowly moving outwards and down. She got to the back of his neck before she spoke. 

"Is your wound still bothering you?"

"No." 

"I think I saw it bleeding today..."

He shook his head, careful not to dislodge her fingers. It felt so nice, her touch. Not like that other woman's…

"I'm sorry," came her soft murmur.

Snort, "Why?" 

She sighed, "I guess I haven't been very nice lately."

His head dipped lower, "It's not you…"

She finally reached his upper back, digging her thumbs deeply into the fleshy part between his shoulder blades. His head shot up and his back arched beneath her hands. 

Kagome instantly softened her hold. "Sorry, did I hurt you?" 

He managed to sound between clenched teeth. "No." Okay, so it did hurt, a little, but it felt like a good hurt, "Keep going."

Kagome nodded and continued to attack the knots in the muscles on his back. He had a very nice back, she decided. She could feel it through the fabric of his shirt. She asked him, "Then what's bothering you?"

Inuyasha had to wait a moment before he could think clearly again, then he lowered his head. "Nothing."

"Inuyasha…" There was a sad tone in her voice, like saying, "You don't trust me?" 

Inuyasha grazed a fang along the inside of his mouth thoughtfully. First the smelly city, then the freaky pictures, then people acting out those pictures all over the place, and finally some strange woman falling all over him and… Inuyasha shuddered. 

He'd been sitting in the corner of the courtyard trying to ignore the sweaty, clingy smell that was beginning to spread over everything, and trying even harder to ignore the people that were causing it. It was difficult to do. His gut instincts recognised all humans as threats, and kept trying to keep tabs on the movement of every being in the area. He could hear them moaning and panting as they crawled on top of each other. Why, Inuyasha couldn't guess, because the thought of doing that just made him feel mostly sick. He didn't want to think about the other feeling it evoked in him, so he again, just tried to ignore it. He must have been doing a very good job of it too, because he hadn't heard the woman come up to him. He hadn't herd her soft, staggered footsteps or smelt her strong, sweaty odour until she had completely fallen into his lap. 

Inuyasha had been too shocked to move, so the woman did. Her large chest pressed firmly against his, her hands snaking around his neck, her lips pressing against his own, and her light but uncomfortably hot weight against his hips. 

That other feeling, the one he had been trying to ignore, slammed though his body so fast he felt like it meant to consume him, only to have his logical side rebuke it twice as strong, and make him fight back. He was revolted, disgusted, and angrily brought his fist up to punch the girl away. She let out a startled squeak, and (almost) everyone in the courtyard had turned to look at them. By the time most of them did however, Inuyasha was already gone. 

Hiding on the roof, he'd been ready to bolt, to leave, to do anything to get away from these humans. The feeling was still there, and it seemed to taunt him every time he heard a moan or groan from below him. He was just about to leap off of the roof, when he realized he had no place to go. The labyrinth was too far away, and Kagome was still in the temple.

He contemplated a life wandering aimlessly through the hills in solitude, before heading back down to the room Kagome was in. Now, with her, he was finally safe from that awful, empty, consuming feeling he had felt when that woman had attacked him. Silently he cursed himself for being so weak, yet at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder, why had she done it? 

"Kagome?" 

There was a hesitant tone in his voice, Kagome noted. "Hm?" She continued to work at his lower back. 

"What…" half a pause, "What are they doing out there?" 

"Eh?" Kagome stopped. What were they doing? Wasn't it obvious? She'd never heard of anyone being so indiscrete about "what they were doing" than these people. Did he really not know? Oh wait, of course not. Then she had to tell him!…er…wait…maybe that wasn't such a bright idea. 

Noticing the silence, and the way he had suddenly become tense again, Kagome decided to speak. "Well….um…." Should she lie? Honey coat it? Would she even be able to do that much without dying of embarrassment?? 

"They're making babies." She blurted out suddenly, and prayed he would leave it at that. She didn't know why, but talking about this with him made her uncomfortable. 

"Babies?!" he was astounded. Uh-oh. "But…You mean they're trying to make MORE stinking humans? There's already too fucking many as it is!" 

Oh damn. Her face was growing warmer by the second. "Well…not everybody want's a baby, some people just like doing that…" Even she could hear the slight squeak in her voice.

"So, they're not making babies?"

"No, well…yes…er. Sometimes?" She shook her head to clear her flustered thoughts. "Maybe. You…You don't get to choose if it happens or not!" 

"Oh…" Inuyasha was facing her now, but he was gazing at the bed, thinking. "Then these people…like doing this?" 

Gulp. Nod. Kagome, braced herself. 'Here it comes…'

"Why?"

Having guessed the question, Kagome's mind was already racing ahead, trying to think up a decent answer… How come he had to ask her these questions? The gods were so unfair… "Because having babies hurts." 

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at her, "It does?"

Kagome nodded again, an decent explanation forming in her head, "It hurts to have babies, so if people didn't like making babies, then nobody would do it." 

"So people like making babies, but hate having them?" That was just confusing!

"No! I mean…" Kagome's patience and humility were almost at an end. Her modesty could only take so much. "Some people want to have children, and others just like making them and don't really want them. Alright?" 

She looked up, intending to give him a frustrated glare, but it died quickly as she noticed the sudden burning hatred in his glowing yellow eyes. Great, what had she said now? Damn her and her temper! Wait, did she just think damn?

Inuyasha abruptly got up and walked over to the far corner of the room again, effectively ending the conversation. Silently, he sat against the wall, pulling out Tetsusaiga to rest his head gently against the scabbard. Kagome watched, thoroughly confused and frustrated, before snuggling back into her covers with an exasperated sigh. It only took a few seconds before sleep began to over take her. She had never been able to sleep very well on the ground, and she still wasn't used to doing so much exercise in one day. Groggily, she remembered to wish Inuyasha good night before drifting into a deep, deep slumber. 

*~*~*~*~*

"Good night, Inuyasha. Sweet… dreams…"

He slipped one of the sheet knots out of his ears long enough to listen as her breathing evened out, and he knew she was asleep. Funny, he thought. Most nights she would toss and turn for a few hours before finally drifting off. She must have been really tired tonight. He jammed the stuffing back into his ear as he began to pick up those other sounds again. Didn't these people ever stop? He huffed in irritation. 

So, people could have babies without wanting them. Of course, he'd always suspected that to some extent, but having Kagome confirm it just brought up another old question. One Inuyasha knew, he could never find the answer to. Had his parents wanted him? Or were they just enjoying "making babies," and he was the result? He thought of his mother, and how she had always looked so sad whenever he saw her. Probably not, he realized. He had been unwanted from day one…

...Growl.

Not that he cared, of course! After all, she had only been a human wench, right? Who cared what she thought, who cared what anyone thought. He needed nobody! He could get along just fine on his own!

So thinking, he lifted his gaze to once again stare at the bed, and the girl sleeping soundly upon it. Twice now, she had helped him, touched him even, in a way he'd never felt before. And even when they weren't touching, he could still feel her, see her, smell her. When she was around, there was always a slight, full feeling in his chest, and it seemed to get just a little bigger the closer he got to her. He knew, because every time he thought of leaving her, he would feel just that much more empty, and alone. 

Day by day, piece by piece, she was giving him a world he was growing to understand. He needed to know more though, much more, and only she could show him… 

He didn't know where this "Delphi" place was, but he hoped it would take forever to get there. 

*~*~*~*~*

End chapter 6

*~*~*~*~*

Author's Notes: Concerning the writing of this chapter. (Corrected from last time) 

Athens is about a 2 and a half hour drive from Sounion and the temple of Poseidon. So I figured walking while wounded, and over much harsher terrain (because they didn't have TNT back then) would probably take a few days. 

Dionysus was considered the god of civility, wine and "ecstatic release." His father was Zeus and his mother was Princess Selene from the city state of Thebes. He had several children, one of which was named Priapus who had a small shriveled up body and the largest wiener mankind has ever seen. Dionysus, for a long time was considered an unofficial God, but eventually he won the Greek people over, and an occult was built for him on the hill across from the Acropolis and the temple of Athena. It later became a monastery, but still retained it's "lecherous" reputation... or so my tour guide said.

As for the plot...it... more or less wrote itself. A priest of Dionysus is a more than suiting position for Miroku. Shippo provided an excuse to get them to meet. Kagome would never turn down a bath...and that brings us to the temple, and Inuyasha's reaction to it. I had to keep him in character as best I could, given the situation. I admit, the chapter gave me a lot of trouble, and got way too close to some stuff I didn't want to write about. After all, I'm a woman. How am I supposed to know anything about men's feelings? 

Even so, any feedback, suggestions, etc, would be appreciated. I felt everyone was really out of character, I just didn't know what else to do. So, R and R!!


	7. Lost Souls

Chapter 7

****

Important Note: I've created a misconception near the end of this chapter. However, to correct it now would ruin the story. Instead, I have made amendments and explainations at the end of chapter 8, that EVERYONE should read.

*~*~*~*~*

The next morning, Kagome woke up to find the sun streaming into her room from somewhere almost directly over head. Yawning, she stretched happily with a sigh, feeling like she had just awaken from the best sleep of her life. Even her bruises didn't hurt as much. The feeling of unhindered bliss continued as she crawled out of bed, changed into her now clean clothes and walked out the door, heading for the kitchen. It was slightly dampened upon her arrival, however, when she heard the arguing coming from the dining room. 

"Look at him Shippo! He has animal ears! Of course he's a God beast!"

"Nuh-un! I smell human in him! He can't be a God-beast if he's human!"

"But he can't be! Look at him! Besides the ears, that hair colour is just unnatural! And his nails look like claws! Admit it Inuyasha, you're a god beast, or at least a demon or unnatural being of…some sort!"

Growl. Snort "Keh! Who says I have to tell you!"

By this time, Kagome decided she'd heard enough of the conversation and pushed her way through the light curtain to make her presence known. "Morning everyone!"

"Ah, Lady Kagome! Good morning to you. Did you sleep well?" Kagome smiled and walked a wide path around Miroku, taking a seat beside Inuyasha. She had just sat down when Shippo came flying at her from the other side of the table, to land lightly in her lap. 

"Kagome!! You finally woke up!" 

She smiled, "Yes, I did. And I slept wonderfully, thank you, Priest Miroku."

Snort, "Yeah, you slept so well I'm surprised you didn't wake up the whole place with your snoring!"

"Inuyasha…" She gave him a warning glare. At least he was back to normal.

"Keh!" Was his response. 

Kagome gave him the cold shoulder and went about filling her plate with the food on the table. Mainly, a bit of bread, cheese, and some fresh oranges. It was then that she noticed the relative emptiness of the hall. "Where is everybody?" 

Miroku gave a tired sigh, "Asleep, mostly. We usually can't find any reason to awaken before noon, unless it is the season for making wine. I would most likely be asleep as well, if it wasn't for this brat here, waking me up!"

"Oi! You're the one who locks me in the cupboard every night! It's not my fault! I can't hold it forever you know!" 

Kagome looked down, shocked at the fur ball in his arms, "He puts you in that cupboard every night! How cruel!"

She shot Miroku a glare, to which he responded by laughing nervously and holding up his hands in self defense. Then, quickly changing the subject.

"So, Lady Kagome, may I ask, how long have you and Inuyasha been travelling together?"

Kagome had to stop petting Shippo to think about that. So much had happened! In her mind, she counted three nights travel…the ship wreak, the attack on the fortress, the night on the beach, "About a week." She said out loud.

"Oh!" Miroku flashed her a charmed smile, "Well then perhaps you can help us settle our little argument. You see we're trying to figure out just what your friend here is, and since he won't tell us, we were wondering if you could."

Inuyasha growled and shot Kagome a "Don't you dare!" look, while Shippo jumped up in her lap and said, "Yeah Kagome, he's a human isn't he! I'm right aren't I! He's human!"

Miroku piped in. "But he can't be! So tell us Lady Kagome, what is Inuyasha? Is he a Demon, or Human?"

Inuyasha's growl had by now reached a very audible level. However, Miroku and Shippo continued to stare at her, oblivious to this. 

Should she tell them? Or shouldn't she. Neither of them seemed to care too much either way. Personally, Kagome couldn't see what the big deal was about his heritage, though she knew people had hurt him for it in the past. To her, he was just Inuyasha, and maybe it was about time he found out that not everyone thought it was a bad thing. 

Praying she was making the right choice, she straightened her back, lifted her nose, and with the air of a princess, said, "You're both right, Inuyasha is both God beast, and human."

Jaws dropped, eyes bugged, and Inuyasha gripped the hilt of his sword in anger. He had his eyes closed, for which Kagome was glad. She had this strange gut feeling that she wouldn't like the emotions she might have see in them otherwise. Miroku was the first to speak. 

"Surely you jest! It isn't possible, is it?" 

Kagome shot him her pointed royal glare, "Are you accusing me of lying? That is what he is. And it is possible, because the God, Poseidon, confirmed it to me himself!" 

She turned her head up in an indignant sniff, glad for once of all the training she'd received in court. Even though she couldn't see it, she knew the looks that must have been on their faces. It almost made her want to laugh. 

"P-Poseidon! You talked to a GOD Kagome?!" 

"Of course, and Inuyasha did to. That's where he received his sword, and overcoat."

Now Inuyasha was the focus of their admiring faces. "Inuyasha, is this true?" Miroku asked. 

Kagome watched Inuyasha's cheeks turn slightly pink. He wasn't used to being the center of attention. They were looking at him, and they weren't disgusted. "Uh…um…uh…" He stammered for a minute before biting out. "Keh! Kagome isn't a liar!" And turned away with an embarrassed huff. Miroku and Shippo looked at each other, trying to see what the other thought about this. 

In the end Miroku settled for nodding his head slightly, adding a thoughtful, "Indeed…"

There was a moment's silence while Kagome munched on her breakfast and everyone else was lost thought. Inuyasha was contemplating why Miroku and Shippo hadn't tried to run him through yet, when a sudden question struck him. Something he had meant to ask yesterday, "Oi!"

Everyone looked up to find him staring at Shippo. 

"What are 'you', brat?" 

There was an indignant glint in Shippo's eyes as he hopped onto the table and drew himself up to his full height. 

"I'm a Fox God beast! My parents were both created by Demeter, the Goddess of the earth! So there!"

Kagome raised her eyebrows, parents? "What happened to your parents, Shippo?" 

Surely, they wouldn't let their son live in a place like this. Shippo however, had suddenly gone strangely quiet. 

It was Miroku who finally broke the silence. "Still don't want to tell us, eh Shippo…" His voice was not unkind, and maybe even understanding. For the first time, he actually sounded like a priest. When Shippo still didn't answer, He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "No matter though. Demeter is a fertility Goddess after all. We decided that taking him in would bring us good luck, which he did. The grocery bill has been chopped down to almost nothing." 

Kagome almost fell out of her chair as Miroku gave Shippo a reassuring pat on the head. Encouraging that kind of behavior, did this man have NO morals?? Still, it seemed to bring Shippo out of his little slump, so Kagome wasn't going to rebuke him. Instead, she let Shippo take a slice of orange off her plate, and another brief silence set in. 

"So, Kagome, Inuyasha, how long were you planning on staying with us?" 

The thought of spending another night here almost made Kagome choke on her cheese. She was almost relieved when Inuyasha stated, "We're leaving as soon as the wench is finished eating." 

Miroku raised an eyebrow, but Shippo's whole face fell. "K…Kagome? He's lying, right?" Obviously the kit had become attached to her. Kagome finished swallowing before she gave a slight nod. 

"No, Inuyasha's right. We still have a very long way to travel."

"Where are you going?" Shippo didn't miss a beat as he stared up at her with huge, puppy dog eyes. Kagome felt her heart clench. 

"Delphi," She said, regret unintentionally coloring her voice. "I need to go see the Oracle there about finding my family." 

She bit her lip and lowered her face to hide the sheen in her eyes. Unfortunately Shippo was standing in her lap. 

"You're family? What happened to them?"

What indeed? Even Poseidon didn't know where they were. She was trying to think of an answer that wouldn't betray the shake in her voice when Inuyasha cut it. 

"Stupid brat! If she knew that, she wouldn't need to go see the or-i-cal thingy. Keh!" 

"You mean you wish to travel all the way to Delphi? On foot?" This from Miroku. 

Kagome cleared her eyes and sighed, "I'm not sure. To be honest, I don't even know how far Delphi IS, let alone how we're going to get there. I was hoping we would find someone here who could help us." 

To this, Miroku gave a thoughtful, "Hmmmm," and then, "I've heard it is somewhere to the North-west, deep in the mountains, and overlooks the Ionian Sea. I'm sure by heading in that direction, you will be able to find more information." 

Kagome nodded and absently stroked Shippo's head. There was another long thoughtful silence. 

"Soldiers!" 

Everyone turned to Inuyasha, who had muttered the out of place remark. He was sitting still, ears pivoting on the top of his head. 

"Inuysaha?" 

He flicked his eyes at Kagome in response. "There are soldiers outside, I can hear them." 

This bit of information was followed almost immediately by a loud banging at the main gate, and a voice. 

"We have you surrounded! Come out peacefully, and bring the demon!" 

It was Inuyasha's mind who processed this information first. Rising from his seat, he began to walk purposefully towards the door, only to be stopped by Kagome. 

"Inuyasha? Where are you going?" 

He turned to her with that completely deadpan face Kagome had come to recognize as the one he wore for battle. The one that assumed everyone was an enemy, and was schooled to revealed no secrets or hints as to his emotional state. Inadvertently she felt a pang in her soul much like hurt. He still didn't trust her.

"They weren't lying, they've got this place surrounded. Everyone's asleep. If they attacked now, it would be blood bath." 

There was another insistent banging on the door and Inuyasha once again moved down the hall towards it. He was stopped at the last second by a sudden and firm tug on the back of his jacket. 

"Stay there, I will see what they want." and Miroku pushed Inuyasha to the into a corner with Shippo. Kagome stayed with Miroku because she was used to dealing with soldiers and was not intimidated. Ignoring the persistent knocking, Miroku grabbed a monks staff from the arch and slowly lifted the latch. Sunlight streamed in the small crack of door as Miroku pulled it open just enough to show his face. 

"Good morning, fellow Athenian. How may the humble followers of Dionysus be of assistance?"

The guard, a rather shaggy middle aged man peered back at him from under the visor of his helmet. There were at least ten other men behind him, and several off to the sides that could not be seen through the narrow space. Miroku kept his face calm. 

"We have witnesses who report seeing a demon on these premises. It attacked one woman and is most likely responsible for wreaking havoc on the agora (market). We were sent to investigate. Stand aside."

The soldier attempted to shove Miroku back but the monk stood, blocking the door by planting his foot firmly in front of it. Smoothly he replied, "An attack you say? Unfortunately I have heard of no such thing. Perhaps you could go into greater detail?" 

The guard was about to respond when a new, shrill voice pierced the late morning air. 

"Liar!" it screamed, "It was that bastard, the one with white hair! Look what he did to my face! He's a monster! He doesn't deserve to live!"

Poor Miroku had to open the door a bit more and crane his neck around the edge to peer at a beautiful young woman with the ugliest black eye/cheek/jaw he had ever seen. "Holy Dionysus!" he gasped, and the young woman burst into tears again. 

It was a good thing because it drew everyone's attention away from the strange growling sound that had started to vibrate through the air. Behind the door, Kagome gave Inuyasha a startled/cross look and asked him, "Inuyasha, what did you do?"

The answer was, "Keh!" accompanied by more growling. The soldiers began to force themselves through the door again while Miroku tried to hold them back and Shippo somehow changed himself into a vase. Miroku gave a mighty heave and Kagome lowered the latch into place, followed by the heavy door bar. They had just gotten it in place when a voice rang out from somewhere outside. 

" Oi! What are you assholes waiting for? If you want me, come and get me!" 

The shrill voice said, "Eeek that's him!" and somebody yelled "Charge!" just as Kagome managed to confirm that Inuyasha wasn't in the corner they had left him. The sounds of clanking armor were fading into the distance. 

"Inuyasha!?"

There was a pop and Shippo re-appeared. "He left through the courtyard over the roof! He's out there!"

"Shit!" Kagome gawked as the priest swore. "What in Hades does that bastard think he's doing!"

Half an instant later new voices cut through the air, as monks came running to meet them. "Brother Miroku!" The noise had finally awakened the rest of the compound, which was surprisingly lively considering the massive hangovers they must have been feeling. People were running pell-mell searching for lost weapons and misplaced clothes. 

"Arsinos! Put everyone on their guard, we may still be attacked! Lady Kagome, follow me!"

And the next thing she knew she was being dragged down the hall towards the back of the temple. "Wait! Where are we going? What about Inuyasha?" 

Miroku snorted something and continued to drag her. They burst through a modest wooden door and into a brightly lit open stable area. In the distance, Kagome could make out the rest of the soldiers running off to join their comrades. There must have been at least two hundred of them, maybe even three. Inuyasha…

"Can you ride bareback, Lady Kagome?"

Kagome was incredibly flustered by now but managed to shake her head, no. Miroku sighed and untied the nearest beast of burden available. "Then it can't be helped!" he said, and with an almost inhuman grace leapt onto the back of the excited animal. 

Equally graceful, he leaned over and plucked Kagome off the ground with one arm around her waist. To his credit, he only touched her breast once and her bottom twice while he arranged her sideways in his lap so she wouldn't fall. 

"Wait for me! I'm coming too!" Like a shot, Shippo darted out the door as Miroku spurred the beast by hitting it's flank with his staff. Kagome caught the fox kit in mid air as the horse broke into a quick canter and raced out into the busy streets of Athens.

*~*~*~*~*

"I hope everyone will be alright! They wouldn't attack the temple now that Inuyasha's gone, would they?" Kagome tried desperately to focus on something other than her fear of sliding off the horse and landing with a splat on the marble blocks below. In her arms, Shippo seemed to be holding on for dear life. 

Miroku didn't look at her, and kept his attention focused on dodging carts and people in the busy streets. "They'll be fine. It's happened before. Some of the citizens don't like us very much." 

He swerved around a cart and Kagome shrieked and clutched the arm that passed before her. The firm muscle trembled and Miroku sweated as he single handedly held Kagome in place and steered through the streaming crowds of people. His other arm knocked down any soldiers within range of his staff as the horse overcame them. It seemed Inuyasha was heading to the high grounds of the acropolis and the Temple of Athena. Luckily it wasn't a holy day, and the place would be fairly deserted. 

The soldiers were getting thicker, and they seemed to be on to Miroku's ploy of taking them out from behind. He swerved again, this time to avoid a drawn sword. The priest cursed the idiot half breed and said to Kagome, "About this supposed attack, did Inuyasha mention anything to you?"

Kagome couldn't answer as Miroku abruptly switched hands, tossing the staff up in the air and catching it, as the other reached out behind Kagome to steady the horse. She shrieked as the staff came down, clubbing another soldier who had been about to slash her legs off, and Shippo clutched at her so tightly her ribs began to ache. They were almost at the acropolis now, and at the top, Kagome could make out the flash of swords and silver and red in the sunlight, Miroku rode on. 

"N-no," the ride became bumpy as they ascended the hill at a trot, "he-he didn't say anything. He was u-upset though, and I doubt that g-girl was telling the tru-uth." 

Miroku nodded and suddenly veered off the path and into the bush. Kagome shrieked again and ducked because she couldn't see the branches. Olive leaves brushed her back and whipped her bare arms until, abruptly, Miroku stopped. He slid Kagome off so fast she stumbled to the soft ground, releasing Shippo who rolled some other short distance away. An instant later, the priest was on his feet beside her, tying the panting animal to a nearby tree while Kagome stared up at the rock face before her. The sounds of fighting were closer now, maybe thirty feet directly overhead. She could make out Inuyasha's voice from among them, and prayed he was alright. 

"Lady Kagome!" 

She turned to see Miroku's shadowed figure sticking half out from a small cave like crevice in the rocks. With his hand, he motioned that she should follow him, and follow him she did. The cave turned out to be a small, low tunnel-way, which wound steeply upwards into an impenetrable darkness. Miroku called for Shippo and Kagome felt something small squirm passed her feet and prayed it was him. A minute later, there was a small cry of "Fox Fire!" and the cave lit up with an eerie blue glow. They continued on, until the cave suddenly stopped, directly under a suspiciously flat piece of stone. 

Miroku rested his staff against the wall before bracing his shoulders up against the low ceiling and pushing with all his might. He gave a groan as the stone moved, and a gray natural light flooded into the cave. Shippo stopped making his fire, and they all climbed out. The fighting was very close now, Kagome noted. It was just outside the walls of whatever temple they were in. Kagome was impressed, how had Miroku known about this?

As if he read her thoughts, the delinquent priest muttered, "Never thought this tunnel would come in handy for anything but stealing." 

Kagome almost fell back down into the hole. 

*~*~*~*~*

Inuyasha leapt onto the roof of the colossal temple gatehouse to plan his next move and see what he was dealing with. The fight hadn't started out too badly, and at first he'd been dancing circles around his enemies and simply knock them out. However, as the battle progressed, Inuyasha found that there was less and less space to dance circles in as more and more soldiers came pouring in through the entrance. Now, he was even more surprised to see at least as many still outside as there were inside. Things weren't looking up. 

He yipped as a rock cracked against his skull and quickly dodged the barrage of others that came flying towards him. Damn bastards! His sword was proving to be as useless as it had been when he fought with that annoying monk, and his knuckles were starting to bleed where he had punched in too many of those impossible metal helmets. For some reason, he was hesitant to start using his claws. They were deadly, he knew, but he also hadn't used them much in any number of years. When fighting humans in the labyrinth, his fists had been more than enough to gain the upper hand. Now he examined them as the muscles in his jaw set slowly into a grim line. 

A volley of spears were what finally made up his mind. Dodging them, he took another mighty leap, sailed over the heads of the soldiers, and slid to a halt on the worn marble roadway behind them. Some gasps went up, before somebody else yelled "Charge!" and as one, the whole wave of humans about faced and ran in his direction. Inuyasha ran forward as well, diving headlong into the fray.

His senses and brain were on hyper drive so that everything seemed to go in slow motion, while he moved faster than ever before in his life. Using his momentum he seemed to literally 'dig' through the masses of people, feeling a crunch, and then warmth and then wetness as his claws passed through breathing body after breathing body. The blood went up in sprays, spattering his cloths and wetting his cheeks like tears of permanent crimson. He breathed in it's aroma and something within him seemed to lurch and fall into place as smoothly as Inuyasha fell into the pattern of hacking limbs and disemboweling stomachs. 

The space around him became wider and wider as his swings flailed wildly and little yellow sparks began dancing from the tips of his claws. Intrigued, he made his next swing wider, hitting nothing yet watching as whip like streaks of light emanated from the his razor edges and sliced cleanly through entire rows of tightly packed bodies. He felt exhilarated and lustful, ecstasy coursing through his veins as he cut carelessly through the backs of bronze encased enemies. They were running from him, they feared him! After an entire lifetime of being hunted the tables were finally being turned and he laughed, cruel and cold as the blood ran from his fingers, flicking off to form streaming arcs, long range projectiles and death personified. It was joy! It was passion! It was power like he had never felt, never knew he possessed. He could conquer the world like this, who needed people? Who needed…

"Inuyasha?!!" 

"No, Lady Kagome, wait… …"

Inuyasha would spend the next few months of his life agonizing over that moment. His mind was so awake that he remembered every detail, every smell, every feeling, and every sound as it passed. He would replay it backwards and forwards, slow motion and fast. Sometimes he imagined the trails of his rage passing just slightly to the right, and other times, a little over to the left, and he would shudder to think what could have been and what was. He would remember the way her mouth had moved, but no sound had come out; would remember the darkening stain of betrayal that could not be contained on her sleeve. It slipped down off her elegant finger tips to spat quietly against the once white marble. It mingled with the other bloods there, swimming and thinning in a sea of casual destruction, and was indistinguishable from the rest. He would never forget her eyes…

They stood like that for a long time. Kagome didn't move, Inuyasha didn't move, and Miroku DID move, but it was only to grab Shippo and bury the child's face into the folds of his holy robes, blinding him from that terrible scene.

Mutely, Kagome reached out with her injured arm, and snagged the smallest bit of Inuyasha's robes as far away from his body as possible. She tugged him and he followed, back into the temple, down the hole, the only sound their footsteps, and those of Shippo and Miroku as they followed behind. 

Out again in the sunshine, the three mounted the horse, just as before with Kagome sitting on Miroku's lap, and Shippo in hers. She was still bleeding, though she didn't seem to notice. When they started to move, Inuyasha wasn't sure he was meant to follow. Miroku paused some distance away and waited for him to catch up. He did.

They moved steadily north, passing out of Athens, and into the rolling hills beyond, stopping by a stream only when the sun began to set. They made camp there, Kagome attended to her own wounds. Miroku and Shippo found something to eat, but nobody was really hungry.

That night, up in his tree, Inuyasha had nightmares of people calling him "Monster" and the way Kagome had shuddered when she had touched his coat…

*~*~*~*~* 


	8. Choices Made

Chapter 8

*~*~*~*~*

They awoke in better spirits, fairly early in the day, yet not so much as to still feel exhausted. Kagome was once again slightly sore and stiff in her front, but not nearly as much as before. She suspected that this was because Shippo had slept curled up next to her, bringing added warmth to drive out the chill of the night from her bruised flesh. Not to be outdone, Miroku found some herb he claimed would keep her wound from becoming infected, and Kagome found she could trust his judgment. Even if he was a leach, he still seemed to care about the people around him. Afterwards, Miroku took Shippo in search of some breakfast, and Kagome decided to go take a quick bath to clean herself up. Her mind made up, she told Inuyasha of her plan before she left. She was fairly certain he heard her, even though he gave no indication of being awake, and continued to sit in his tree in utter silence. 

Walking up stream in the opposite direction Miroku and Shippo had taken, she found a nice, fairly deep pool and slowly stripped off her clothes, mindful of her aches and wound. To be honest, the little cut in her arm hardly deserved the title. It was maybe four inches long and not deep enough to reach the bone. She was surprised it had bled so much, now that she had a chance to inspect the brownish stain on her shirt. It had covered almost all of her left sleeve and dripped right down to the hip of her skirt. It was amazing how much somebody could bleed from something so little.

"Ow!" Then again, maybe not. It looked small, but the pain was more then enough to limit the movement of her arm. She sighed and berated herself once again for doing something so foolish as running out into the middle of a battle without a care or thought as to where the danger was. To be honest, she was very lucky to even be alive right now, and not among the fallen masses of soldiers. Once again, Kagome shuddered involuntarily at the thought. 

Wringing her clothes out as best she could, she lay them out on the grass to dry and sat down beside them, itching when the plants tickled her bare skin. She proceeded to inspect her wound again (they hadn't had any spare cloth to use for a bandage), and ground up the herb between two rocks into a very pathetic sort of paste. It stung like nothing she had ever known before, and she had to bite the back of her lip bloody in an attempt to keep from screaming. Finally it settled down and she rinsed the gunk away with some clean water and left it at that. Her clothes were dry enough to wear by now, but Kagome decided to delay returning to camp, opting instead to flatten herself out in the tall grass out of view, and do some much needed thinking. 

Inuyasha…

She hadn't been able to speak to him last night about what had happened, she couldn't bring herself to. It wasn't that she blamed him, no. They were the ones who had attacked him, and strangely, she felt very little or no sympathy towards the young men who had died in the fray. Why, she couldn't say. What had been done to them was heartless and cruel, but she didn't care. She couldn't even bring herself to feel guilty for her lack of emotions. Wasn't she a good person? Weren't good people supposed to care about such things? Shouldn't she be angry at Inuyasha for what he had done? 

No. Instead, all she felt was a mind numbing sadness. Sadness for every human life lost, sadness of every sufferance anyone had ever born, sadness for those who had been treated unjustly, those who had never been given a chance, and sadness for mankind, who would commit and bear these atrocities until the end of time. It was so unfair, and she had found herself asking nothing but why questions until she fell asleep. Why were people so cruel? Why did they lie and cheat and hurt each other? Why did they have to suffer and die so pointlessly?

No reason. It was the only logical conclusion she had been able to draw from the days events. It was all pointless. The thought disgusted her, and gave way to a stony depression which had eaten away all her sense and enthusiasm. It was all she could make herself do, to get them moving and out of the city before military reinforcements arrived. Kagome was sure she had never experienced such a dead feeling before in all her life. 

Now however, in the bright light of morning, it had passed. They weren't the ones who had died. Time hadn't and wouldn't stop for their moping and she needed to get things in order and get on with their lives. She still needed to find her family. 

She decided that when she got back to camp the first thing she would do was insist that Inuyasha take a bath. He was still covered from head to toe in blood and it probably wasn't healthy for his body, or at the very least, their sanity. Then, while he was gone, she would discuss with Miroku and Shippo what they planned to do next. Neither of the pair had been expecting to go on this journey to Delphi with them, and it was most likely they had other designs for the near future. However, Kagome secretly wished that they would find some reason for wanting to travel with them, and accompany them on their journey. After all, they were delightful company and had already proven themselves to be very resourceful in a fix. She only hoped that they wouldn't hold yesterdays events against Inuyasha, and feel obliged to come simply because they needed to protect her from "a murderous half god beast." 

Then, afterwards, she would have a talk with Inuyasha. After all, he was the person yesterday had left the greatest impact on. His actions this morning proved it, for Inuyasha was always the first to wake up. She was sure he had been listening in on their conversations this morning, waiting...for something. Or maybe she was wrong. Maybe he just needed some time alone to think things through for himself. 

Or maybe he was wounded?! 

As the thought struck her, she suddenly realised exactly how much time she had wasted sitting here. Quickly getting up, she slipped on her clothes and skipped quickly back to camp. Running would seem a little too desperate, and she wasn't really that worried about him, just...concerned. After all, Inuyasha was a tough guy, he could look after himself. 

Either way she was out of breath by the time she got back.

"Oi! What took you so long wench. We were just about to leave without you!"

Still panting a bit, she looked up, shocked to see a clean Inuyasha standing before her, arms crossed over his chest in a typical perturbed fashion. Behind him, Miroku was untying the horse, while Shippo used his little claws to brush the dust from the animal's hide. 

"Inuyasha...what...what?" She gestured around with her hands instead of wasting air. 

He gave her a confused glare before giving the usual, "Keh!" and replying, "Stupid wench. WE took care of all the work while YOU were out being LAZY! Now come on, we're going!" 

He turned to do just that, but was stopped when a fuzzy orange thing flew over his shoulder and bopped him on the head. Shippo landed neatly in front of Kagome and pointed an accusing finger at Inuyasha. 

"You jerk! Kagome can take as much time as she wants. She's injured, remember! No thanks to you!" 

Inuyasha stopped rubbing the small lump on his head and took up an equally threatening position. "Watch it brat! Or I'll use your hide as a rag for cleaning Tetsusaiga!"

"Ahhh! Kagome!!"

Once again, her bruised flesh protested as Shippo leaped into her chest, and the sudden movement to catch him pulled her wound. She masked it quickly however, changing it into a scowl aimed at Inuyasha. He really should know better than to threaten little kids. 

Inuyasha returned the scowl for a half second. Then folded his arms, tossed his head and began heading off down the path. 

"Keh!"

By now, Miroku had untied the horse and brought it around so he could lift Kagome up onto his lap. Shippo leapt up on his own. 

Kagome was on for maybe five seconds tops before something began to rub against her butt. She shrieked, and instinctively moved forwards, sliding off the horse to land and then stumble somewhat gracefully on her feet. Composing herself, she turned around to look at Miroku, who's face again betrayed none of his earlier actions.

"Lady Kagome, are you alright?" 

"Um...yes. I, uh..., I think I'll just walk for a while, if that's okay." She said simply. The genuine look of concern on the Monk's face sent her mind reeling. How could he do that?!

"Are you sure lady Kagome, the day is already turning quite hot, and the more you exert yourself, the more time your wounds will take to heal..."

"That's quite alright," Kagome replied. She'd collapse from exhaustion before she let herself be "petted" like that. "Alright, let's go!" She turned to leave.

There was a flutter of red cloth and Kagome instantly found her way blocked by Inuyasha, or at least the back of Inuyasha. He was standing directly in front of her, facing the other way, slightly crouched down. Kagome looked at him, confused.

"Inuyasha?"

She saw his ears twitch in irritation and he bent down a little further. 

Kagome was now more confused than ever. "Inuyasha, what is it?" 

"What does it look like wench! Get on!!"

She stopped. He wanted her to ride him, piggy back? Kagome didn't know which was more degrading, being petted by Miroku, or having her thighs wrapped around Inuyasha's body, though she was touched by the offer...sort of...

"Um, I don't think...uh..." 

"Did I say you had a choice? You'll slow us down if you walk!"

The look he gave her from the corner of his eye was enough to make her blood several degrees cooler. Gulping, the physical rendition of literally swallowing her pride, she gingerly set her hand upon his shoulders and, holding her skirt up to her knees with her free hand, jumped up to wrap her legs lightly around his torso. It was almost too lightly, but the moment she began to slip, Inuyasha's hands came up and caught her under her knees, holding her in place. She straightened, getting as comfortable as she could, in that awkward position. 

Then, without any warning, he took off, leaping down the path with Kagome squeaking in fear and Miroku galloping not far behind. 

*~*~*~*~*

Leap, bound, sprint a little, bound again. Light as the summers breeze but twice as fast. Young soft thighs being held by strong, rough hands. Lean muscle brushing against soft flesh, heavy breathing. 

Something about the whole picture bothered Miroku. 

It wasn't that he held anything against the demi-god beast that was running before him, or Kagome who was riding on his back, but more, it was the principal of the matter. He just simply couldn't understand why a maiden would choose Inuyasha over him. 

After all, Miroku had spent years studying the exquisite art that was women kind. He knew when to flatter, when to remain silent, and when to defend a lady's honour. He knew which buttons to push, both emotionally and physically. He knew the primal game of hunt and chase. He knew when to be bold, when to dominate, and when he should let himself be dominated. Most importantly, he knew how much of himself to put into a relationship so that it could be drawn back later when it all eventually came to a close. As far as Miroku was concerned, he was a perfect ladies man. 

And she had chosen to ride with Inuyasha, who was rude, violent and above all, insulting. 

It wasn't an isolated incident either, now that he thought of it. Dinner the eve of Kagome's arrival, breakfast the following morning, all those times she had chosen to sit next to Inuyasha, and as far away from himself as she possibly could. 

This realization was what alarmed him. Could it be that he, at such a tragically young age, while still so handsome, had lost his appeal to women? He had seen it happen before in some young priests, like a disease of the mind. They got bored, lost their sincerity, and soon became merely routine in their pursuit of women. It was like they had lost their spark, their fire; handsome young men who had lost all interest or pride in their bodies' form and purpose. Often, they suffered the most tragic of tragic fates, and left the cult to become tax collectors or the like. Soon, they weren't men at all, but shadowed beings with beady, calculating eyes, burdened by silly meaningless things, like possessions, money, or maintaining a status.

NO! He would not let that happen to him, he could not! There must be some way, some salvation out there in this world! He would find it, no matter how long it took him, how horrible the sufferance, he would endure. How incredibly fortunate that the fates had chosen to provide him with such a perfect opportunity to go out into the world and search. 

Resolutions made, and thoughts put at rest, he galloped on. Shippo remained perched on his shoulder, and Inuyasha with Kagome bound just ahead of the horse's bit. And so it was that they came in early afternoon to the outskirts of the city state of Marathon. 

*~*~*~*~*

He didn't need them, he didn't care. It was the mantra that had been going through his head since before the break of dawn when he had awoken with a cold sweat crawling his skin, a reminder of the nightmares he had experienced the night before. 

And why should he care? They didn't. Everything until now had been nothing but a fancy of his imagination. Kagome helping him, Kagome understanding him; it had all been a lie, or at least misinterpreted. He understood now. Kagome was a person who treated even her enemies with respect, her enemies and Inuyasha. It wasn't kindness or caring, it was a fairness she expected of herself to show others. 

Now, though, she couldn't even bring herself to give him that. He could understand the sideways glares from the Monk, or the insults of the fox brat. He hated the annoying pair and expected to receive nothing less in return. Though they never voiced it, he knew they were only here to protect Kagome from himself, the blood thirsty god beast. Keh! What did he care? They could think what they wanted, even her. He didn't need them. 

... ...Not that he'd ever protected her in the past. She was wounded twice now because of him...

Keh! She didn't deserve it. Fist thing in the morning and what does she do? She goes to go talk to them, not even noticing him, that he isn't there like usual. Then she goes to take her bath, leaving him with a bunch of total strangers. Fuck her, fuck them all. She goes and takes the stupid kid's side at every argument, even the Monk's side! And when he offers to be nice and give her a ride, she won't come near him because she's disgusted with him, because he's a monster. Fuck them! Screw them all! They could do what they wanted to him. He was stronger then that, he would even kill them if he had to. And he could, without any regret, because HE DIDN'T CARE!! 

"Inuyasha?" 

"WHAT?!" His voice shattered the comfortable quiet of the mansion guest room they were all staying in. Inuyasha hated it with a passion, because it was tight, airless, and too warm to be comfortable. He had wanted to sleep outside. But no, little miss princess wanted to stay in a house that the pervert was supposedly blessing. Bull! He could hear them even now, faintly. The monk was using the brat as a way of getting to the house owner's daughter. Gods he hoped he wouldn't have to listen to THAT again…

"What do you want wench?" It was quieter this time. He didn't want to scare off the cosy warmth that was just beginning to seep back into the room. Not that he'd felt it before, but he didn't want Kagome to become flustered by it's absence. Then she'd start asking questions, and he'd have to insult her again to get her to shut up. ...Not that he cared... 

"Inuyasha?" his head shot up again, his thoughts disintegrating before they could even form. The genuine concern in her voice mirrored the look on her face, and for a moment, he couldn't think of anything to say. Instead he looked away, reminding himself that she hated him now... 

Because of... 

Because he... ...

"... ..."

"... What was that Inuyasha?" She'd seen his mouth move, but hadn't heard whatever it was he's said. In fact it didn't even look to her like he knew he was saying it. She furrowed her brow, scrutinising him. All day something had seemed wrong with him, though she couldn't place what, and half wondered if it wasn't just her imagination playing tricks on her. He was grumpy enough, and swore enough, and he was certainly stubborn enough. 

Gods! He had argued for almost an hour with Miroku when the monk said he'd found them a place to sleep in. It was a nice place too, possibly the richest house in the whole City State. Personally, she couldn't see why Inuyasha was so adverse to a hot meal and a good night's sleep. 

So what could be bothering him now? Was he still uptight about yesterday? Every time she had tried to bring up the subject, he simply told her he didn't care, and went back to insulting her. It seemed normal enough, but somehow...

He was still unresponsive, and as Kagome watched him in the warm glow of the dying firelight, she briefly wondered if he had fallen asleep... 

Wait a minute, the fire wasn't that warm. 

"Inuyasha, are you feeling okay?" 

"huh!?" 

He started again. Dammit, couldn't she just leave him alone for one night? Wait, she was moving, towards him! Shit. What was she gonna do? He attempted to shuffle back, but the wall blocked him. By the time he realised he was going nowhere, her hand was already inches from his face, he froze...

The caress of her hand was cool and comforting as she placed it upon his forehead. Smooth and soft, it wasn't until he felt it pulling away that he remembered his mantra. I don't need them! I don't care! They don't! She doesn't!! 

"What the FUCK are you doing, stinking bitch!"

He saw her eyes grow dark as her brows furrowed in annoyance. She couldn't hide it, she hated him. He knew it! 

"You DO have a fever!" 

...huh?....

He was so confused he didn't realize she had lunged for his hand until it was too late. Instead, he watched in shock as she took the large clawed thing and clasped it between her own warm palms. "Inuyasha, you're hands are like ice!" 

She looked at the floor, thinking, a scowl upon her rose lips. Inuyasha's head was still turning, hadn't he insulted her? His tired brain had just rewound itself to the part of the conversation he understood when, without warning her head shot up. 

"Where is it?" she demanded. The tone of her voice told him she wouldn't take any lies. Unfortunately, he had no clue what she was talking about, at least, he didn't think...

Nope, no clue, "Keh! Where's what, wench? Make some fucking sense!"

But Kagome wasn't listening. Instead, she pounced on him, eyes blazing in anger as she attacked the knots of his clothing.

"Kagomeeee!! Miroku tried to lock me in a cupboard again so he and the rich man's daughter could..." Shippo stopped as he took in the scene before him, and quietly backed out of the room. Kagome was attacking Inuyasha, and winning! Who knows what the stupid half demon had done this time, but Shippo certainly wasn't going to get caught in the middle!

Meanwhile, Kagome got frustrated with the clothing and abruptly stood up. Glaring down at Inuyasha, she pointed an accusing finger at him and all but shouted, "Where is it Inuyasha-and don't try to lie to me! The last time you had a fever it was because you were injured and poisoned! Why didn't you tell me huh? Oh, never mind, just let me see it!"

Inuyasha blinked once, twice, and then slowly, pulled himself forward off of the wall and hesitantly climbed to his feet. His brain on auto-pilot, he quietly turned around so that his back was to her, and began clumsily pulling at the knots around his waist. Once they were free, he gingerly pulled back his shoulders, allowing the fabric of his coat and undershirt to slide away, knowing she would see it. 

Somehow, he hadn't even noticed the pain until they had already cleared the city and were up into the lower hills, then, even when he had, he decided he didn't care. He'd live. The pain didn't really matter, because he was tough. He was so tough, that the next day while he was washing, he had barely bothered splashing some water down his back to rinse his hair. The wounds didn't matter. Hell, he was even strong enough to carry Kagome on his back, because she was weak and pathetic. Not like him, he was tough, a half demon, he could survive. That was why everyone had been taken away from him, why they all left. Because he didn't need them, because he was tough...

Sometimes, being tough really sucked...

Her breath caught in her throat. Even though this wound was no where near as ghastly as the last, Kagome winced as she watched the thin cotton fabric of his shirt rip away pieces of the dark, already blotchy scab. She also noticed a few little rivulets of dried blood running down his back and on the material. No doubt the wound had been re-opening all the time he had carried her, most of the morning and some of the afternoon. As for the wound itself, it was round and deep, stuck under the blade of his left shoulder as if made by a spear or lance. A hole in the loose material not too far away confirmed that it hadn't healed any since it had been made. 

As a result of all the abuse, the skin around the edges of the wound were now almost glowing an angry red colour, complementing the hot flush of his pale skin. To make matters worse, she also noticed several lesser wounds all around his back and arms. Nicks from swords and bruises where the blades had been unable to penetrate the tough red outer coat of Inuyasha's father. None of them could have been life threatening, however, the fact that he hadn't told her...

"Stupid...why didn't you tell me..." She gently traced the line from one of the lesser scrapes with the tips of her fingers. The cool contact against the tender flesh made him shudder and wince. 

"K-Keh! I didn't even notice they were there! Besides, why do I have to tell you every time I'm injured! I can look after myself you know! I don't need you!" Nonetheless, he didn't move away, and allowed her to continue tracing his wounds with the tips of her fingers.

As an after though, he added, "I've been alone for my whole fucking life, you know! I've looked after worse than this!"

He had meant it to sound angry, and most importantly strong, but somehow it came out sounding more the opposite. 

If Kagome noticed however, she didn't make any comment on it. Instead, she pointed to a pillow she had placed in front of the fire for reading, and told him to "Sit!"

He did what he was told, glancing over his shoulder suspiciously as she ripped a sheet into strips and grabbed the pitcher of water from the side of the room. Then she pulled some kind of withered plant from her pocket, and proceeded make a paste from it using the stone hearth of the fireplace and the heel of her hand. She glanced up at him and their gazes met. 

"I'm sorry. This will sting, but it's great for keeping wounds clean..."

"Keh! Like I said, I don't need-ARG!!" He instantly clamped his mouth shut and scrunched his face, unconsciously snarling as he pulled air into his lungs in a painful hiss. Finally, it was over and he instantly sprung to his feet. 

"Fuck! What the hell was that, bitch! Know what! Forget it! I don't need it! I don't care." 

"SIT!" 

The authority in Kagome's voice was absolute. He sat. Luckily, she didn't use any more of that green stuff. 

"Keh!"

Kagome sighed. How could one person be so...so...FRUSTRATING!! One moment he was quiet, the next he was yelling and swearing. He was wincing and feverish, then insisted he was fine! WHAT WAS HIS PROBLEM!! She continued to fume as she cleaned his wounds, this time just a wet piece of cloth to soothe over the heated punctures. She decided she'd had enough of this attitude as she wrung out the cloth for the last time and sat back to inspect her handy work. She was relieved to see the red ring around the wound already beginning to fade.

"Inuyasha! Stop behaving like such a jerk, or next time you injure yourself, I won't care!"

Something inside him snapped. He whirled on her. 

"So fucking WHAT!! Stupid BITCH!! I already told you that I DON'T NEED YOU!!" She tried to look away but he grabbed her by the chin and yanked her face closer. "READ MY LIPS! I! DON'T! NEED! YOU! You're WEAK, and PATHETIC, and I DON'T CARE! GET IT!"

  
He released her with a little shove and flicked some strange moisture from his hands. He got up and began to pace the room, ranting.

"About any of it! Get that! I don't care! I don't care about you, I don't care about Miroku, and I especially don't care about that fucking BRAT! I don't care about what happened to those bastards yesterday! As far as I'm concerned, they deserved it! And that other bitch deserves whatever's coming to her! Fucking liar! And I REALLY, REALLY don't care about what my mother would think, or about her fucking dead husband, or my father, or EITHER of my shit eating HALF brothers! I DON'T Care! Get it! I DON'T CAARE--" SMACK!

By the time he turned his head straight again, he was already staring at Kagome's back. She was shaking with...some emotion, head down, shoulders bunched, fists at her sides. Inuyasha was surprised she still had the voice to speak, but she did. 

"Are you listening now?" She began. She gave a long pause to make sure he was. 

"Because 'I' don't care either."

Had she been looking she would have noticed Inuyasha flinch visibly, but she carried on. 

"Those soldiers, yesterday, they could have killed you just as brutally as you killed them. They could have tortured you, hurt you...th-they wouldn't have s-stopped...even if you were begging for mercy... Men....no, people can be really...cruel...Even worse than demons."

Her breath was becoming short, and she took a minute to get it back to normal.

"That's why I don't care. I don't care what happened to them, because of what they could have done to you. I'm glad you killed them..."

Inuyasha needed all of the long silence following to let these words sink in. She...she was...gla...d? She continued 

"My father once told me, that even in war, every man is equal, no matter who's side they're on. Often, they don't even know what they're fighting for. War is a pointless thing, but sometimes unavoidable." 

"When that happens, the only thing you can do is look around you, and protect the ones that matter most. You fight for them and their safety, because they're the only sense you know. They're the only ones who give reason to the madness and the fighting, to life...only the people you care for." 

"I chose you yesterday, Inuyasha, because I care about you, just like I care about my family. They...and you... give me a reason to be here. The ones I search for, even when everything else is gone."

Finally she turned to him, and in the dying embers, he saw light sparkling off the unshed tears in her eyes and the traces down her flushed cheeks. She sniffed.

"If...." and her voice faltered. She took a deep breath to regain herself. 

"If...you really don't care...about anyone... ...then..." 

"Then you still haven't left the labyrinth!" She declared, "You're still stuck there, in the dark, not knowing which direction to turn! You're still all alone! If, even after all this, you still don't care...about ANYTHING...then...obviously..." 

She trailed off and lowered her face.

  
"Obviously..." Kagome whispered, "...I've failed you..." 

They stood like that for a long moment, frozen as the exhausting silence of that...comfortable room, slowly over came their heated tempers. Leaving nothing but numbness once again.

"...I'm sorry..." And without looking up, Kagome wandered back to her sleeping mat and curled up upon it as far away from him as possible. 

Inuyasha hardly noticed this. He too, had suddenly found a particular interest in the gray stone of the floor. His mind had projected on it all the faces he had ever seen in his life. His parents', his "brothers'," his mother's human husband's...

...Some faces from the labyrinth, though they all seemed to blur into one eerie, blank face now. The men on the ship, that nutty water god, the priest, and the fox...and finally, Kagome. 

But, for some reason, he couldn't find just one face to represent her perfectly. There was Kagome as he had seen her in the labyrinth, dirty and scared, and even then her eyes shone with fire. There was Kagome stubbornly trying to keep up, Kagome offering him food. Kagome angry, Kagome happy, Kagome caring... Kagome sad...betrayed

He pictured his own faces beside hers. Angry, angry, annoyed...okay fine, angry...

Was it true, what she'd said about him not having left the labyrinth? Sure he'd done stuff, but...he'd been trying so hard to feel nothing but anger and hatred. He'd been pushing it all away...

However, even if she was right, who could he care about like that? Who would want him? His emotions, his protection, his body, should he give that to just anyone? 

He was so exhausted. His wound ached, his eyes stung and his chest felt like it had either shrunk or the inside had expanded so that it pulled tight at every heartbeat, every breath. Without thinking, he wandered over to a corner and sat down with his back against the wall. Almost instantly, something seemed better as he took deep breaths and made the effort to notice his surroundings. He was surprised to find a wisp of black hair not to far from his right knee...or maybe not. 

He breathed in again, and this time, knew that it was Kagome's scent that brought him comfort, that always had. Raising his head a little more, he saw her face, still red from crying. So he had hurt her again huh? He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. 

Somehow, he felt like he should apologize to her for being so rotten, but the words...it just didn't seem like enough to do, to show her how he felt. He owed her so much more, and some part of him knew that. 

But would she accept anything more he had to give? 

By this time, his hand had found the top of her head, his claws gently snagging and teasing the hair there. The black strands were so supple, they slipped through his claws like water, making it impossible to hold on to her. 

She breathed in, air filling her lungs in a deep, relaxing sigh. He froze. 

"Good night Inuyasha... Sleep well, okay?..."

He felt the corners of his mouth pitch upwards of their own will as a dreamy smile crossed her face. His flexed his hand, allowing it to continue it's little exercise on Kagome's hair, even though he knew that some part of her was still awake. Like that, he waited, listening as her breath evened out and she dropped off to sleep again. It was becoming a habit of his, to listen to her fall asleep before he allowed himself to do the same. 

As his eyelids closed, he decided. There was no person he wanted to live, no being more deserving of protection than Kagome.

And damn did that girl ever need a lot of it!

*~*~*~*~*

**__**

Important Author's note: 

Dear GOD!! It's finally finished. I have never had so much trouble writing a chapter in all of my life! I must have finished it and then erased it all again almost a dozen times. Arg! It was SO frustrating!!

Anyway, just to make one thing clear, Inuyasha did not become a full demon in the last chapter. I'm not sure if I'll throw this in later or not, so I'll just explain it now and then maybe repeat it afterwards. At one point, I had written this as Kagome's thoughts while she was bathing.

*~*~*~*~* Out Takes *~*~*~*~*

Closing her eyes, she saw it again. Inuyasha stood in she sunshine, drenched in blood and surrounded by the bodies of the men he had killed. He was smiling, amber eyes sparkling, watching in fascination and sadistic delight as his claws and strange power made carcasses of the fleeing masses.

What had been in that smile? It was half crazed, triumphant and filled with a lust for power, and at the same time, looked like it had been pulled from the face of another, and placed upon him. Even now, in her mind, she wanted to rip it off him in the most violent of ways, because that face wasn't the face of Inuyasha. 

It was the face of men; greedy men, powerful men, men who stood alone at the top of the world and looked down to see nothing but filth and darkness. Men without compassion for others. It wasn't Inuyasha she had seen, but the face of those who had hunted him and chased him. In her mind it was Inuyasha who was running away, from the fear, the pain, the injustice. Inuyasha running from himself, and so, he became the opposite, his own hunter. 

She had never realized how dark Inuyasha's past had been until she saw that smile, and yet afterwards, it had seemed so obvious. He had been thrown in to a cave as a child, starved, hunted, hated, and she had always brushed it off as being too dark to think about. 

Well yesterday she had thought about it, and it had sobered her into a depression so deep, it was all she could do to get them moving before re-enforcement's arrived from the military. How did he keep going like that? Even breathing, when he knew there were thousands out there who wished he would just stop. She had never realized how strong he must be, maybe even more inside than out. 

*~*~*~*~*

Anyway, thanks a bunch! 

Chris-san


	9. Arguments at Dawn

Author's notes: First off, I would like to give a way overdue thank you to my advisor/critic, Non-Sequitor. She does a great job in telling me what I've done right and what I need to improve on, so once again, thanks. 

Second: I'm going to try making shorter chapters. Hopefully then I'll be able to update faster. I'm really, really busy right now because I'm putting together my portpholio to apply to University, but after that I should have more free time to start writing again. Thanks for being so patient. 

*~*~*~*~* 

Chapter 9

Zephyr - Greek god of the west wind.

*~*~*~*~*

Inuyasha awoke while the room was still dark, ocean deep in the twilight of pre-dawn. His ears perked up, someone was coming this way, lightly running on all fours towards their room. He waited as the heavy wooden door squeaked open, and a small black figure darted across the room towards them.

"Kagome! Kagome!" Shippo nearly pounced on her, only to be stopped in mid-air and dangled by his tail. 

"Oi, brat, she's sleeping. What do you want?"

Shippo took a moment, collecting enough air to speak. "Miroku says we hafta leave right now because he and the rich guy's daughter had a moaning contest last night and the old people don't like young people doing that 'cause they get jealous and they get mad and then we get in trouble so we hafta go before everybody wakes up and the old people find out." 

While waiting for the blue colour to leave Shippo's face, Inuyasha thought about what the kit had said.

"Moaning contest…?" Then the realization hit him. "Keh! Stupid brat, they weren't having a moaning contest, they were making babies!"

"Making babies! Who gave you that idea! That's the stupidest thing I ever heard!"

"It's not stupid, Kagome told me. That's how humans make babies, brat!"

"Stupid half-breed, Kagome probably told you that to protect your 'in-no-sense'. I've been around it longer because I've lived with Miroku. He told me it's a moaning contest-"

"-but that's stupid! How can anyone have fun moaning!"

"Oh yeah, well then tell me how sound can make babies! Face it Inuyasha, you're wrong and I'm right. It's called a moaning contest!"

"… …" Inuyasha was stuck there, "…Stupid brat, it's called making babies, and that's final!"

"Moaning contest!"

"Making babies!"

"Moaning contest!"

"Making babies!"

Lucky her, these were the first sounds Kagome was consciously able to distinguish in the waking world. She groaned and whimpered, and managed to bury herself deeper into the covers, willing the sheets to block out the noise. When that failed, she decided that resolving this argument was probably her quickest way back to sleep. She rolled over again and ignored the sleepy crack in her voice as she asked, "What are you two doing?"

"Kagome!" A split second later the weight of Shippo made itself known on her head. "Kagome, which is it called, making babies or a moaning contest?"

Tired sigh, "Which is what called…"

"What Miroku was doing with the rich man's daughter last night. He locked me in the closet again, and Miroku told me they were having a moaning contest, but Inuyasha says they were making babies. Which one's right?"

"The first one…" and then her brain kicked off of auto-pilot, "…wait a minute, what?"

Shippo's weight lifted off her head and Kagome mustered the motor controls to prop herself up onto her elbow and rub the sleep from her eyes. 

"I told you so, I told you so! It's a moaning contest!"

"Wait a minute, moaning what?"

"Lying bitch, you told me it was called 'Making babies!'"

Inuyasha's insults had finally managed to injure her pride, and she quickly sat up and composed herself, now totally awake. Unfortunately, all she could see was a big black blob chasing a smaller blob around the room.

"Nya-ha-haha-haaaa!!"

"Why you little…"

"Ahhhh!"

As you could imagine, Kagome had quite enough by this point. "QUIET!!!"

The little blob froze. The big blob tripped over it and landed with a smack against the floor. Then, blessed silence. Kagome sighed and began speaking in a very testy voice. "Good, now that I'm awake, what are you two arguing about?"

Shippo managed to disentangle himself from Inuyasha's billowy pants before answering in one long breath. "We were arguing about what Miroku and the rich-man's daughter were doing last night because Miroku told me they were having a moaning contest, but Inuyasha thinks they were making babies and I know I'm right because I've been living with Miroku longer but Inuyasha didn't believe me and then we started fighting and-" here Shippo paused to take a breath and Kagome quickly intervened. 

"But wasn't Miroku supposed to be blessing the house last night?" She asked hastily. 

"That's what I said," Shippo was quick to reply, "but he said that blessing the girl was more important because she was pretty and demons would want her and that he needed me to bring him good luck and then he locked me in the cupboard while they had a moaning contest and that's why we have to leave now before everyone wakes up and gets angry because old people don't like it when young people hold moaning contests and…"

Shippo promptly fell over in a dead feint from lack of air. Inuyasha picked him up and proceeded to make faces with his slacked visage while Kagome slowly digested what Shippo had told her. Let's see…Moaning contest, Miroku, beautiful, rich man's daughter…uh-oh. 

As if to punctuate her thoughts, a shrill scream suddenly pierced the blue dawn, startling Kagome and causing Inuyasha to drop Shippo. Kagome snatched Shippo off the floor to cradle him in her arms. When she stood, a pair of running feet could be heard coming down the hall, as Inuyasha placed himself between her and the door. In the silence that followed, they waited with baited breath. The footsteps came nearer, slowing down just outside the door. 

BANG! 

"Lady Kagome, Inuyasha, hurry up and follow me!" with that, Miroku ran ahead down the hall. He returned a second later to add, "Oh, and grab the bed rolls!" Then he was gone. 

Kagome and Inuyasha looked at each other, "Bed rolls?" 

Then Inuyasha's ears twitched, "Fuck, no time!" and he began to move. Like Zephyr he leapt around the room, bundled up two sets of the thick blankets and pillows, stuffed one under each arm, and with a quick nod to Kagome, they were off. By now, Kagome didn't need godly hearing to know why they were in such a hurry, the mansion was awake and running frantically about looking for the "villains." Her own brain was almost seized in panic as they ran through rooms and down corridors, reminding her of a tighter version of the labyrinth. 

Down some stairs, they were right behind her now, with Inuyasha just barely visible ahead in the darkness. She called out to him quietly with what little air she had left in her lungs. Surprisingly, he heard. Plastering himself against the wall, he let her run by. With a quick snap of his wrist he threw the large blanket over their pursuers. It tangled the first one, tripping him and causing the others to crash over his fallen form. Inuyasha dashed down the remaining stairs to avoid being squashed in the resulting human landslide and continued to run until he caught up with Kagome. A few seconds later, they burst through a plain wooden door into the dank humid air of the horse stables. Miroku was already there on his horse, exerting his staff on the few who had tried to cut off their exit from the outside. 

A quick "Hey pervert!" had Miroku's attention in a heartbeat. The priest made one last swipe with his staff to clear the way, and spurred his steed into a gallop. Inuyasha made a mad dash for the door, his free hand snagging Kagome on the way, holding her at his hip like a sack of potatoes. With Kagome still clutching Shippo to her chest, they burst out into the streets of the sleeping city. Inuyasha took to the rooftops while he pursued Miroku and his horse. And so they ran a marathon out of Marathon, and into the wilds. 

*~*~*~*~*

"Fucking," …wheeze… "asshole of a…" cough "damn priest!" 

It had been almost a half-hour full out sprint for Inuyasha, with Kagome in arm, to keep up with the madman's pace Miroku had driven his horse. To be honest, Kagome thought the poor thing looked in worse shape than Inuyasha, while the priest walked the beast in circles to get it to cool down. All because the pervert couldn't control his lust for one night. Any minute now she was going to give him a glimpse at Hades for putting them all through that, but first, she had to get her own breathing under control. Speeding face down over roof tops, sometimes so close that you could feel your own hair brushing against the tiles, was not a very calming experience. In fact, the only one of the group that didn't seem at least somewhat exhausted was Shippo. 

Instead… "Kagomeeee! I'm HUNGRY!!"

Oh no, a grouchy Inuyasha mixed with a whiny Shippo. 

*CLONK!* "Shut up brat! We're all hungry, but because of this fucking loser we had to leave before we could grab breakfast!"

"Wahhhhhhhh! Kagome he's being mean to me!!" 

He wasn't the only one ready to break down and cry. Kagome thought, Could this day possibly get any worse?! She'd already had more than she could take and it wasn't even light out yet! She glanced up at the heavy looking clouds and wondered if it was going to rain or not. Wouldn't surprise her if… 

"YAAYY!! FOOOD!! Gimme, gimme, gimee!" 

Her head shot up like a whip. Food?! 

"You fucking sorry excuse for a priest! You've been holding out on us! Gimme that!"

Inuyasha made a swipe for the bag Miroku was carrying, but the monk deftly pulled it away and handed him what looked like a small bun, followed by a bit of cheese and some dried meat. Not too far away, Shippo was sitting on the ground, literally digging into his orange. Kagome watched him pull out fruit by the fistful from the little hole he'd made in the peel. 

"M-miroku…wh…where did you…?" The priest approached her in turn, also bearing cheese, bread and more wonderful oranges. Kagome eyed it warily for about two seconds before her hunger finally got the better of her.

"There now, isn't that better? A pretty face such as yours will never be allowed to become thin and wan for want of food while I am around." 

Kagome froze, turning to look up at him, half of a piece of orange still poking out of her mouth. Her eyes were wide with surprise and curiosity, and she gazed at him intently, innocently trying to gauge his sincerity. Oh yes, he had her, thought Miroku, just a little more, and she would be all hi-

"Oi priest, what is all this crap you got in here! Did ya bring the entire house with you or something?"

There was a clatter and a bang. Miroku spun around, already knowing it was too late. In his pursual of Kagome, he had left the bag right in the open. Now his spell was broken as she watched that damn 'dog boy' expose the stolen candle holders and smaller money bags he had worked so hard to get. The more he pulled out, the more disapproving Kagome seemed. Damn he was screwed!

Even so, he put on his most innocent face and placed a rather sheepish grin upon his lips. 

Kagome squished the remaining half of her orange into his face and crossed the clearing to where Inuyasha sat. Inspecting the damage she turned to him. "Really, I don't believe you! And you're supposed to be a priest?!"

"I thought he was a pervert." Kagome elbowed Inuyasha in the ribs. 

"If he stole something, doesn't that make him a thief?" Asked Shippo innocently. 

Miroku looked offended. "Now, now, I think that's a little harsh, isn't it? After all, it's not like they can't afford to replace this, you saw for yourselves how unbelievably wealthy they were. Besides, we will need supplies on our way. The city of Thebes is still many day's travel from here. We can't possibly forage for that long." Kagome had to admit he had a point there. "This way, we can afford to buy supplies on our way, and nobody will suffer because of it. Isn't that the best way to go about it, Lady Kagome?"

To Inuyasha's disbelief, Kagome only frowned thoughtfully. 

"I can see you're point, I guess…"

Then she finally became angry! Yes!

"…but I still don't think it's right to steal from people!" She huffed, turned around and stormed off into the nearby bushes. 

Inuyasha could only stare after her. That was it? The damned priest causes all this commotion and all she does is tell him she doesn't like stealing? The bastard deserved to be kicked out! And good riddance! Fuck, he could take that damned kit with him too and then it would just be Kagome and him again. But no! She didn't even yell at the fucker, or call him names, or anything!

However, Inuyasha calls her some bad names and suddenly he gets this big lecture, complete with tears and a whole fucking guilt trip! Screw this! He had even tried his best to be nice to her this morning…

Any further thought, however, was interrupted by a flash of lightning, followed by a crash of thunder. Inuyasha flattened his ears against his head, even as he heard Shippo give a frightened yelp and dive for Miroku's ankles. Both men watched in surprise as he huddled himself into a tiny ball of fur under Miroku's robes and began to shiver like there was no tomorrow. Inuyasha locked eyes with Miroku, who shrugged as if to say "I have no idea." 

Inuyasha turned his attention back to Shippo. "Oi, squirt. Don't tell me you're afraid of a little noise and light!" 

As if on cue, the lightning repeated itself, and again Inuyasha pinned his ears to his head. The wind began to pick up and the half demon felt a sort of restless energy fill his soul. A storm was coming, but it felt like something much bigger. Good or bad, Inuyasha couldn't tell…

"Well then, I suggest we find shelter if it's going to start to rain." the priest was as calm as ever, "maybe there's an over hang up ahead we can rest under. Come one Shippo." 

Inuyasha watched Miroku take about two steps away from him before Shippo suddenly leapt up and dove once again under the monk's robes, trembling like a leaf. Miroku stoped. 

"Come on now Shippo, it's just a storm, it won't hurt you." Miroku tried to coax the kit to move, but to no avail. Another crash of thunder and Shippo went ballistic, crawling up the inside of Miroku's robes to come to rest against his stomach. He began muttering something that Miroku couldn't make out, but Inuyasha heard crystal clear. 

"Don't let them get me! …they're here…I don't wanna die… hide me!" 

Even from a distance the terror in Shippo's voice was obvious, it piqued Inuyasha's curiosity. "Oi, who's they?" 

Miroku, who was absolutely lost, looked down at his stomach for an answer.

"The Thunder Brother's!"

There was a sudden white flash and all hell broke loose. Sparks flew out of some distant bushes, the horse reared and tried to bolt, Shippo flew around inside Miroku's robes before skitting across the ground and diving into a hole near the base of an old olive tree…

…and somewhere in the distance, Inuyasha could have sworn he heard Kagome scream… 

*~*~*~*~* 


	10. Thunder

****

Author's Notes: 

Yes, yes I know. You're all wondering where the hell I've been and so on. So I'm going to tell you. 

January is Exam month. No further explanation Needed.

February is February. It's a really depressing month because of the cold, yucky weather and I can't write. Unless you want everybody to end up dead, don't ask me to write anything in February. 

March - I was sick March. Yes all March! First it was a sinus cold, and then it went away just in time for me to take a trip to NY. It was fun, but my cold came back afterwards because I pushed myself. My eardrums burst and my head did this nice throbbing thing, so it sucked. I hate writing when I'm sick. When I get better I usually read it all over again and erase it because it sucks. Unfortunately, this author sets high standards for herself. I don't post crap. 

April - Actually started the chapter at the end of March, beginning of April. Problem is, I had almost no clue where this thing is supposed to be going. I'm still not sure where this chapter's going. 

Other ongoing problems:

School - I'm in my last semester of high school, ever. I'm trying to get into University, and as many scholarships as possible. That means getting good grades. Also, the courses I'm taking are rather writing intensive. One's called "writer's craft" so go figure. The other is world issues with all kinds of essays and research and stuff. 

Computer - I do all my writing exclusively on the computer. I used to use the old upstairs computer for writing, but it has since died and we have not replaced it. Because of this, I am competing for time on this computer with my dad (he's an accountant and needs the computer to do taxes for his clients right now), my sister (who is also in her last year of high school. Don't ask...) and my brother (he's in high school too, and damn the day I taught him how to use the computer to play video games.) 

Author's notes - I hate updates that are just author's notes. I mean really, either I give you a chapter or nothing at all. A note without a chapter is the same as nothing at all anyway really. There's no story, so there's no point in reading it. So there! 

As you can see, the updates will be very slow in coming from now on, at least until I've managed to free up some computer time. I haven't given up, however, and I won't. 

I have posted some original stuff that I have to write for my writing course on Fictionpress. net. You're welcome to read that if you like. 

And now, on with the story.

*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 10

__

An-chan: Japanese for older brother. It's just one of those terms that makes Manten sound like Manten, so I'm including it. 

*~*~*~*~*

So far, Manten was having a really good day despite waking up rather early after another nightmare about going completely bald. Already he'd terrorized one village, stolen and eaten a rather tasty goat, and stumbled upon a way to prevent his nightmare from coming a reality. Chuckling, he grinned down at the young girl that now lay unconscious on his speedy black rain cloud. Who would have thought, such a beauty just wandering around the countryside, waiting to be caught. Already he planned to make her a sacrifice to his maker, the all powerful Zeus, ruler of immortal gods. Surely, for such a beauty, the god would hear his prayer. Manten smiled again, imagining how popular he would be once he had a full rich head of dark hair, just like his older brother Hiten.

*~*~*~*~* 

"Damn fucking sonofa…" Inuyasha cursed as he rushed through the underbrush and skidded to a halt in the center of the clearing. He took one look at Miroku, hunched down beside the old gnarled olive tree and snarled. "Oi leach, haven't you gotten the brat to come out yet?" 

Miroku looked up, his face calm and serene as always. "Now, now Inuyasha be nice. He's a kid after all. We shouldn't force him to come out if he's not ready." So declaring Miroku stood and dusted his robes with his hands. "By the way, did you find Lady Kagome?"

Inuyasha was already stalking towards the tree, determination in his eyes. "We don't have time to wait until he's ready. The bitch's been taken." In one fluid motion he had gripped the tree trunk at the entrance of the abandoned burrow, and ripped it up out of the soil. Roots snapped and wood groaned, cracking as the old tree landed with a heavy thud upon the wild brush. With his other hand, Inuyasha reached into the newly exposed hole and pulled out the trembling fox kit by his tail. 

Miroku just blinked calmly at the random act of destruction, while Inuyasha lifted Shippo up to his eye level so he could peer into the kid's face. 

"Oi, brat. Just who, or what, are these thunder brothers you were talking about?" 

Shippo trembled harder, curling his limbs tight against his body to form a perfect little ball.

"Thunder Brothers?" Miroku repeated. "…Are you saying they've kidnapped Lady Kagome?"

"How the Hades should I know? The place was burned to a crisp and Kagome's scent was fading. Someone else has her, and they're not human. I wouldn't even be back here but there's no trail to follow." He growled and then glared at Shippo. "So now the runt has the only clues on finding her."

There was a pause as Inuyasha continued to stare at Shippo, almost as if he knew the kit could feel his gaze. Finally, after a long minute, Shippo spoke. 

"…th…they k-k-killed my mom and d-dad…"

In an instant, Miroku's eyes were grim as Inuyasha's. Not once in all the time he'd known the fox kit had Shippo so much as mentioned his parents. It was a topic he had simply refused acknowledge, and now that monk could hazard a guess as to why, he feared for Lady Kagome's safety.

"That doesn't help Kagome any twerp. Where are they?"

Still, did Inuyasha need to be so callous? Shippo was ready to burst into tears, and that would make things a real mess. 

Or maybe he was just completely oblivious as he continued shaking Shippo by the tail. "Come on brat! Where are they?"

Sniff… sniff… "BWAAAAAHHHHH!!!! I Don't know! AHH!! Kagome-hic-Kagome's gonna DIIEYYYAAAHHH WAHHHHH-"

"Don't you start crying you useless piece of shit! Crying's going to get us nowhere! So STOP it right now! You hear me!! STOP IT!"

"-HHHH-HAHHHH-hic-WAAAAAAHHHHH-"

"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"

"-AHHHH! WAHWAHWAAAA! BWAA-"

"I SAID-"

Oh for the love of…sigh....

*WHACK, bonk!* "SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!!"

Silence. 

Miroku let out a sigh of relief and lowered his staff. Serenity returning to his visage once again. "Much better. Inuyasha, give Shippo to me." 

…grumble, grumble snarl "fine!" complain snarl…

Ignoring his companion, Miroku calmly sat Shippo on his upheld wrist, letting him balance against his chest while the monk used a corner of his robes to dry his tears. Then, with just a hint of a smile, he lifted his wrist, bringing it up level with his shoulder. 

"Now, Shippo. Just get up on my head, look around, and tell me where YOU think Kagome might have been taken. We'll find her, don't you worry. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Tentatively, the kit put one hand on Miroku's shoulder, then another, and before long he was, quite literally standing on Miroku's head. For a few minutes, he scanned the terrain before pointing out a direction. 

"There." he said. "They like high places because they can fly, so they'll probably bring Kagome there."

A sudden gush of wind and a snap of cloth signalled Inuyasha's departure. By the time Shippo had crawled back down onto Miroku's shoulder, the half-demon was already just a distant blob of red. 

Miroku sighed, shrugged his shoulders and muttered something about fools and acting without thinking. He turned to his companion. 

"Well then Shippo, shall we go?"

They soon followed on horse back, while the dark storm clouds grew ominously blacker overhead. 

*~*~*~*~*

Kagome slowly opened her eyes to gaze upon a soft fuzzy world. Or, maybe not so soft. And hey! She was feeling really rotten! Ouch! She tried to grab her head only to find that motion just made it pound worse, and the ground was hard and rough against her delicate skin. Wait a minute, ground! And what was that noise?

"Hey Hiten-An-chan, how exactly do you sacrifice a girl any ways?" 

Voices......? ... EEEH!! They were going to sacrifice a GIRL?! 

"Oi… Manten, can't you do anything right? Honestly! She's a mammal. Do it the same way you'd sacrifice a cow."

…wait a minute, she was a girl…

"Oh Right! Hehehe, he..." Uncomfortable silence, "Uh, An-chan… um…how do you sacrifice a cow?"

Uh-oh!

"Stupid! We've only DONE it about a thousand TIMES before!!" Kagome cringed and managed to make out the voice muttering, "If you weren't my brother…" There was a sigh, and the voice continued on with all the patience of one who was talking to a three year old. 

"Look! You hack open her back to paralyse her. Then you slice open her throat and bleed her to death. You skin her, strip off the fat, wrap it around the thigh bones. Burn them as offerings to the gods, and eat the rest. Got it?"

Kagome suddenly wanted to be sick. They were talking about her! Oh gods, where was Inuyasha, Miroku, even Shippo?! She didn't want to be sacrificed! No way! NO WAY!!

A crude laughter. "Right An-chan! I remember now! Ha ha ha! I'm going to have hair! I'm going to have hair! Aaahaha!" 

Hiten smirked as he watched his brother, slapping his knee and laughing. The stupid oaf had probably forgotten everything he'd said. A sudden shuffling sound alerted him to the fact that they weren't the only ones who could hear their conversation… 

"Oh really?" Hiten smiled, "Well then Manten, you'd better hurry up and catch your sacrifice before it runs away…"

Manten's laughter stopped abruptly, his head shooting up to where he'd lain his precious hair sacrifice. 

Sure enough, Kagome was on the move, half running, half hobbling blindly forward as fast as her headache and stiff limbs would allow her. She ducked and dodged around the landscape, behind giant boulders and over semi-wide chasms for a grand total of about fifteen seconds before she came to a dead stop at the edge of a rather tall cliff. 

Well, okay it wasn't just rather tall, it was a sheer drop of about two ship-lengths. 

And before she had a chance to think up an alternate plan, Big-bald-and-ugly was upon her. 

"Hehe. You see now, there's no way down! ..uh...unless you can fly like us...But you can't so...hea-heha-ha-ha!"

Fly? Were these guys....god beasts??

Manten gathered her hair into his burly fist and began yanking her across the gray landscape of rock and storm clouds. She yelped and huffed indignantly in her almost doubled over position, feeling much like an animal on a leash as her captor began to hum merrily. "I'm going to have hair, I'm going to have hair!" He didn't seem to care if she tripped or not, and by the time they reached the place she had escaped from, her knees were covered with blood, sluggishly welling up through a number of new scrapes and cuts. 

Kagome was terrified! How could anyone be so, so inhumane! They were going to...to...

Manten gave her hair a good yank, pitching her face forward into the rough ground at the center of the clearing. She caught herself with her hands, ignoring the feeling of more ripped skin and the re-opened wound on her arm as she looked up into the face of the other god beast, Hiten. Oddly enough he looked perfectly human, until you realized that the irises of his eyes were more crimson than the blood seeping from her scrapes. 

"Oi, Girl! You'd better not run off again if you know what's good for you..." He smirked and brought his hand up level with his chest, a small ball of light manifesting in his palm...

*~*~*~*~*

Inuyasha ran, a streak of red weaving its way through the gray landscape. Already the rising slope of the mountain was passing below his feet. Just a little longer and he'd be there. And if those thunder-asses so much as touched Kagome, he'd make sure they never saw the fucking light of day again, ever! 

Not that he was worried about losing her. No way! He wasn't so wimpy that he needed some human bitch to keep him company. The only reason he was doing this was because last night he'd promised to protect her. He was NOT going to fail already. It hadn't even been one day yet for fuck's sake! This was a matter of pride!

Just a little further and he'd be at the top. One more leap...

"KAGOME!! YOU FUCKING Bastards are going... to..."

.... .... cricket, cricket... 

Nothing. 

Inuyasha spun around, taking in the panorama before him. One which was entirely Kagome and demon free. 

"Fuck!" he cursed, "That little twerp is going to die when I get my hands on him!" 

He spun around again, eyes searching wide and far: nothing. 

Dammit! Where was that wench? How the hell was he supposed to find her now? Her scent was gone! Who knew where those Assholes had been able to fly off to by now. What was he going to do? Where would he go? How was he going to find her? What if she was already- NO! NO! She couldn't be dead! The wench was too stubborn for that. But still, where was he going to-

Hey....what was that funny flash of light on that distant mountain top? 

*BOOM*

The flashing light turned into a giant ball of energy as it streaked off the peak and impacted into the side of the mountain Inuyasha was standing on. The ground shook with the force and for a minute the half-demon had to fight to keep his balance. 

No sooner had he managed to catch it again than he was off again, this time making a direct bee line for that distant ridge the blast had emanated from. For sure, Kagome was there! For sure, that was where they had taken her!

For sure, she hadn't been on the receiving end of that blast, right? 

Taking in deep breaths of air Inuyasha pushed himself forward, sprinting hard. Somehow, this landscape looked familliar, like he'd seen...it...before... ...!  
  
That damned kit was going to die!

*~*~*~*~* 

"Yayahahehe! Hiten An-chan is the greatest. Hehehahaha!" 

Manten clapped and slapped his knee as Hiten brought his hand forward again, smirking. "No one messes with the thunder brothers of Zeuse! Got that, girl?" He flashed Kagome a predatory glare. 

Fortunately, Kagome didn't see it as she was still too busy eyeing the path of destruction left in the wake of Hiten's blast. Hadn't that pile of blackish sand been a boulder not too long ago? Kagome shuddered before the demon's voice brought her out of her daze.

"Oi Manten, weren't you going to prepare a sacrifice?"

"Yes! Hiten An-chan!"

Kagome had to think fast, otherwise....gulp! She didn't want to think about an otherwise!

"Wait!" Both brothers turned around as Kagome shot to her feet. "Y-you can't sacrifice me!"

Hiten raised an eyebrow. "...and why is that?"

"Um...lots of reasons...um....the gods would get angry...uh....because I...I'm....Because I taste bad!" Well it was better than nothing. "I mean, I'm all skin and bones! I've got a wound on my arm, and you should see this bruise on my front. My hairs all knotty, I'm covered in dirt...uh..."

Hiten was looking bored...

"....and, aahhh,...Pelops! Yeah, remember the myth of Pelops? Remember, his father killed him and served him to the Gods, and the Gods got angry and punished him, and now he's in the under world rolling that giant rock up the never ending hill, or was that someone else... uh... hey! HEY!! Are you even listening?!"

Manten stopped humming and looked up from where he was trying to start a fire while Hiten paused in his spear sharpening just long enough to do likewise. "Oh, sorry did you say something?"

Kagome fumed in frustration, racking her mind for anything else that might persuade them NOT to hack her back open and then bleed her to death. Anything to stall until Inuyasha could get here. Because he would come for her right? Inuyasha HAD to come for her! Inuyasha...

Wait a minute. Duh! Why didn't she think of that earlier?

"And besides," she began, her voice actually confident for the first time since this whole ordeal began. "If you hurt me, my uh, betrothed will hunt you down and kill you! So you'd better let me go this instant!"

Well, so maybe it was a bit of a lie, but it was worth it if it saved her life right? I mean, they weren't going to take her seriously if she just called him a friend. Besides, Inuyasha probably didn't even know the meaning of the word betrothed. So HE couldn't be offended or anything...right?

"A-HAHAHAHAHA! HAAAAHAHAHAHA!!"

Of course, what was the point in even trying to lie when the people you were lying to just laughed in your face? Kagome growled subconsciously until Manten managed to gather enough air to speak.

"A-hahaha! Hiten An-chan! She thinks we're gonna be killed by some human! Ahaha-hehe-hahaha!" 

"He's NOT human you fools! For your information, he happens to be the son of Inushiro, the greatest god-beast Poseidon ever created! And he's going to maim you quite horribly when he gets here, you'll see!" 

"HAHAHAHAHA!!! Maim us horribly! What does that mean? MAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHA-OUCH!" Manten rubbed the new lump on his chrome dome and looked up with watery eyes. "An-chan, what was that-"

"Shut-up!" Hiten snapped at him. Kagome gulped as his blood-lusting gaze met her slightly unsure one. "You! Girl, how do you know that name? The flee-bitten-mutt died before you were even born."

Taking a deep breath, Kagome set her jaw to shake off her timidness. 

"The God Poseidon told me." She announced, clearly. "I saw him when we visited the shrine at Sounion. We were there retrieving Inushiro's sword, the Tetsusaiga."

There was a thoughtful pause before Hiten suddenly stood upright and began to walk over, stopping with his face inches from Kagome's own. He searched her through narrow eyes, while Kagome did her best to return the piercing glare. 

After a long moment, Hiten seemed to have reached a decision, and abruptly, he spun away. With determined strides, he marched to where he had placed his own partisan weapon, bringing it up to rest against his shoulder, tip pointed towards the sky. Out of nowhere, two tiny wheels appeared beside his feet, shooting off sparks as Hiten rose into the overcast sky.

"Hi...Hiten an-chan! Where are you going?"

Kagome watched, only somewhat relieved to discover he hadn't been planning to use his weapon to kill her. 

Hiten paused in mid-air, turning back with a haughty toss of his head. 

"Stupid, we're going to do what us God-Beasts were made to do, of course: fight for the glory of Zeus!" and his eyes filled with a battle lust as he continued, "Inushiro's son is said to be undefeated in any duel, but today he and his "Tetsusaiga" will meet their match in us, the Thunder Brothers, and this..." he held his spear aloft, "Raigakijin!"

A sudden streak of white thunder cracked the heavens, making Kagome jump. It caught Hiten's gaze, and his eyes flashed dangerously at her as he turned again to leave. 

He yelled back over his shoulder. "Oi, Manten! Don't forget the girl too. Sesshoumaru's known for his poker face, but killing her might just piss him off. Hahahaha!" 

His laughter drifted down from the clouds as he rose out of sight. With a quick, "Yes Hiten An-chan," and laughing like a maniac, Manten soon followed suit in his speedy black rain cloud. 

For the second time that day, Kagome dangled against Manten's hip like a sack of grain. This time however, her thoughts were much clearer, and much more grim. The older one had vaporized a rock for gods' sakes! What if Inuyasha...or Shippo, or Miroku...

...and wait, hadn't Hiten just said he wanted to fight Sesshoumaru? Uh-oh. This would not be good. 

*~*~*~*~*


	11. Little Brother

Chapter 11

_An-chan: A cute way of saying "Older Brother." It is a Japanese phrase I am including because it's a trait of Manten._

"Run you stupid thing! Run!"

…Nothing.

Miroku gave a defeated sigh as the horse continued up the winding pathway at a slow, regular plod. Obviously, the beast was put out about having to run out of the city, and then climb up a rather large mountain. Impatiently, the priest sighed again. Kagome's life was in danger here, and Inuyasha had run off in what had tuned out to be the wrong direction. So it was up to him, the unassuming, modest, skilled, and above all, handsome monk, Miroku, to save the damsel in distress, thus becoming her night in shining armor.

…provided that he could get there this century. The only good thing about this slow pace was that it seemed to have calmed Shippo somewhat by taking all of the apparent urgency out of their task. Instead of crying, the cub was now sitting contently on the horse's head, half-heartedly trying to catch the flies that landed on the beast's ears. Miroku watched as the clouds moved over head, only to realize that even they seemed to be traveling faster than he was. Dammit he couldn't take this anymore!

"OI SHIPPO, YOU'RE GONNA GET IT NOW!"

Shippo's head shot up and around while the monk reined the horse to a stop in the middle of a fair sized plateau, about a quarter of the way up the mountain. Turning in his seat, both companions were able to recognize a flash of silver and red, before it whipped past them, grabbed Shippo, and skid to a stop about fifty paces ahead. Inuyasha didn't even wait for the dust to settle before grabbing the cub by the tail and attempting to shake his brains out.

"You little bratt! Did you think you could actually get away with something like that? Huh? Was that supposed to be some kind of joke! Asshole I thought you were actually worried about Kagome! Stupid little twerp, brat, shit, useless weakling of a god beast!"

Luckily, Shippo had long ago lost track of what Inuyasha was saying, and was instead concentrating on keeping his breakfast in his stomach. Not an easy task when you're hanging upside down and being shaken by an angry half-demon. At this point Miroku stepped in and whacked Inuyasha with his staff. The hanyou immediately dropped Shippo to glare at Miroku in rage. Forgotten, the kitsune hit the ground, but only landed on his head, so he was okay.

"Oi Letch! What was that for!"

Miroku sighed, still seated upon the horse, and shook his head. "Inuyasha, we have already wasted precious time as it is. You can beat up Shippo as much as you like after we have rescued Kagome. For now I suggest we get…"

Inuyasha wasn't listening, as he had once again picked up Shippo by the tail and was now using the top of the fox's head as a punching bag. Miroku's eyebrow twitched with the monk's effort to maintain control, as he swung his staff again. This time Inuyasha didn't drop Shippo, but stopped his actions to rub his head and complain.

"What? You said I could beat him up as much as I wanted?"

The muscles in Miroku's jaw that twitched as well, and again Miroku swung his staff to bring it down on Inuyasha's head, only to have it caught by Inuyasha's hand.

"Oi! You swing that thing again, letch, and I'll start on you once I finish with the fox!"

"And while we stand here waiting, the thunder brothers may be 'finishing' with lady Kagome, or have you already forgotten her. Idiot, we don't have time for this! Lady Kagome may be dying as we speak!"

He spurred his horse, which actually listened, and was about to trot passed the half-god-beast, when Inuyasha suddenly blocked his way.

"Oi! Monk, Kagome is NOT dead. I'm her protector, and nothing's going to happen to her until I get there, so shut up!"

Miroku seethed, "Inuyasha, you're an idiot if you believe that the god beasts are going to wait for your arrival before harming Lady Kagome-"

"Asshole! Nothing's going to happen to Kagome! Got-"

Inuyasha was cut off rather suddenly when a blast of lightning struck the ground close to them. In the next second, Miroku's horse was bolting down the hill at top speed, with Miroku still on it of course, and Shippo had miraculously recovered from the beating he had received, and raced off screaming to find the nearest hole to hide in. Inuyasha stood where he was, arms raised to block of the resulting rock shower from the blast. Stupid wimps all running away, but he didn't have time to think more than that as a voice cut through the settling dust.

"Oi! You!"

Inuyasha looked up to find the source of the voice, a man with a braid was floating in mid air on some kind of fiery wheels. Instantly, Inuyasha didn't like this guy. He had an annoying cocky look about him, with one arm placed firmly on his hip while the other held some sort of spear-like weapon against his shoulder. He also had the stench of burned flesh about him, though whether human or animal, Inuyasha couldn't make out.

Either way, if Inuyasha was annoyed with the cocky flying jerk now, he was down right peeved with him when he spoke next. Bringing his weapon down to point at Inuyasha, his next word's were, "Yes you! Are you Sesshoumaru?"

After a startled pause, Inuyasha's most intelligent answer was, "Wha!"

The guy was getting impatient. "It should be a simple question. Are you Sesshoumaru or not? If so, then I, Hiten of the thunder brothers, is going to challenge you to a duel. If not…" he finished with a shrug of his shoulders.

There was another long pause on Inuyasha's part, before he all but exploded. "What kind of fucked up stupid question is that, huh! Do I look like that stuck up, shit-faced bastard to you? Do you see a fucking tail on me? No! Go to fucking Hades and look for him there!" He finished by pulling a classical, Inuyasha Keh! and turning to the side with his arms crossed over his chest.

Hiten let out a disappointed sigh. "Well, if you're not him then I have no need of you." And with that, he fired a fatal blast of lightning at the angry, sulking guy with white hair, and continued on his way…

…or at least he would have…

"You asshole! What the fuck was that for!"

Hiten looked down to find an even angrier guy with white hair glaring up at him with golden eyes, not too far from the smoking crater his blast had made. Surprised, the god beast took a moment to think about this.

"Hmmm. So you managed to dodge my attack huh? Not bad. How about this…"

Again Hiten aimed his weapon, and again, Inuyasha dodged two, three, four times…

Hiten stopped. Obviously, this was going no where fast. "Dammit, You're wasting my time. Would you just die already?"

Inuyasha growled. "Not fucking likely. Why don't you come down here and fight me, bastard!"

Hiten huffed in annoyance, but he could see the guy's point. Hopefully he could finish this quick, and then go find Manten. Maybe he had spotted the god beast they were looking for… but then again, it was Manten…

"Allright," he sighed, "It's a pain in the ass, but I guess I'll just have to fight you. Ready!" He moved into a fighting stance, his eyes glittering, because Hiten loved to fight, no matter how short it would be… "GO!"

Inuyasha had little time to think as the god-beast attacked. First he dodged another thunder blast, and then he had no choice but to draw his useless sword to block as Hiten swung at him with his own sparking blade. This time, however, the sword didn't seem so useless. In fact, the second it was drawn, Tetsusaiga changed from a useless stick of rusty metal, into a gleaming white sword in the shape of a fang, that was almost as long as Inuyasha was tall. Surprised, Hiten leapt back, to assess this new development, while Inuyasha just stared…

…and stared…

…and then began cursing up a storm. "Damn, stupid thing! Why the fuck didn't you work earlier!"

And then the battle, recommenced.

Meanwhile, circling high above, Manten and Kagome were also searching for any sign of her "fiancée," though for very different reasons. Manten wanted to help his brother kill the supposedly famous god beast, and Kagome was hoping Inuyasha would kill the thunder brothers who were holding her captive. For now though, the two occupants in the cloud shared a common goal…er sort of. Find a god beast named Sesshoumaru, who was actually the half-god beast named Inuyasha. Because of this, they had decided to share the work, each one keeping watch over one side of the cloud as they flew onwards.

"Hey hair-sacrifice-girl, do you see anything?"

"No Manten, and my name is Kagome, remember?"

"Oh yeah…"

Kagome shook her head and brought her hand up to her forehead to keep her bangs out of her eyes. Leaning a little over the edge of the cloud to search the ground below, she couldn't help a rush of exhilaration that passed through her stomach. To be flying, this high up, with the wind in your face, was a sensation very few mortals had been given the opportunity to experience, and Kagome couldn't help but relish in it a little bit.

At that moment, Kagome considered herself very lucky.

"There! I see him! INUYASHA!"

Kagome smiled and waved her arms about, trying to get his attention, while Manten came over and looked down.

"Hey! Hiten An-chan's there with him too. Hi, Hiten An-chan!" Manten too, began waving, as the cloud began descending in the direction of the battle.

Eventually they got close enough to be noticed by the two duelers, who promptly stopped their fighting watch their arrival.

"Kagome!"

"Inuyasha!"

"Hello Hiten An-chan!"

"Manten! What the hell are you doing?"

Manten paused in his waving for a second, realized what he was doing, and then sheepishly brought his hands down and hid them behind his back.

"Sorry Hiten an-chan."

Hiten just smacked himself in the forehead head and muttered. "I swear if you weren't my brother…" momentarily oblivious to the growling behind him.

He brought his attention back to Inuyasha again when the half-god-beast snarled, "So you're the bastards that stole Kagome!"

Hiten looked up. "Huh? You know this girl? But she said she was in love with Sesshoumaru…"

"I DID NOT!" Inuyasha winced at Kagome's scream.

"Well then who is this Inushiro's son that you said you were in love with?" Hiten barked back.

Kagome froze and went red, as she began to sputter, "I…um…that is…uh…" She shook her head to get her bearings. "We're not in love, we're traveling together." With that, the flustered girl turned away from them, crossing her arms, much like Inuyasha, and letting out a 'humpf' of annoyance.

There was a long moment of silence as Hiten, Manten, and Inuyasha just stared at each other, while Kagome pouted.

Finally, Hiten gave I tired sigh and began to rub his forehead, as if to ward off a headache, while floating upwards to think. "Awe man, what a disappointment. Looks like I got all riled up for nothing…"

He gave another sigh, before opening his eyes and turning to Inuyasha. "Guess I might as well finish with you then." And then he turned to his brother. "Manten, why don't you go take the girl and sacrifice her like you planned."

"…Huh?...Ah! Yeah Hiten An-chan…uh…how do I do that again?"

Hiten smacked his forehead and repeated, again through ground teeth. "You hack open her back to paralyze her. Then you slice open her throat and bleed her to death. You skin her, strip off the fat, wrap it around the thigh bones and burn them as offerings to the gods. Remember?"

Manten took a long moment to internalize this information. "Yes Hiten An-chan! Come on hair-sacrifice-girl. Let's go!"

Inuyasha stood, rooted in place as visions of Manten 'sacrificing' Kagome ran through his head. The girl began to struggle, her skin looking more ashen than the gray clouds silhouetting her in the sky. "No! Inuyasha! Let me go! I-"

"Shut up." And Manten abruptly clubbed her on the head with his large, oversized fist. Dazed, Kagome sunk back down into the cloud, and out of Inuyasha's sight.

"Kagome!"

Inuyasha was about to go after her, but Hiten chose that moment to attack. The two weapons, Raigakijin and Tetsusaiga, clashed while Manten began to fly up higher and higher. The big brute was chanting in a sing-songy voice, "I'm going to have hair! I'm going to have hair!"

"Dammit! Kagome!"

"Watch who you're fighting, or you might lose your fucking head! "

Inuyasha almost didn't see the blast before it hit him. Full force, he was thrown back to go skidding like a stone across the rocky surface of the plateau. Hiten smirked triumphantly while Manten laughed from above.

"HEAHEHEHEHE! Hiten An-chan's the best. HEHEAHA! Let me help too!"

And so Manten leaned over the edge of his cloud to look down at the fallen hanyou. Carefully, he took aim, gathering his power in his mouth…

"You big Bully!"

He was struck from behind, the force tipping him off balance and over the edge of his cloud. He released the attack just as he fell, the blast going wide and all over before finally ending just as Manten hit the ground. Kagome would have danced in triumph, however, the moment the god beast hit the ground, the cloud she had been riding in began to disappear. Before she knew it, she too was falling towards the earth. Her final words to be nothing but an earsplitting scream…

"Dammit wench are you trying to make me deaf!"

Kagome opened her eyes. She wasn't falling anymore, she was standing, with strong arms wrapped around her middle to keep her there. "Inuyasha!"

"Dammit wench, look out!"

Hiten made another pass at Inuyasha, and managed to take a knick out of his side as the Hanyou was too occupied with pushing Kagome out of the way. Kagome stumbled, but stayed on her feet while Inuyasha had no choice but to turn back to the battle.

"Bitch, why are you standing there? Go find some place to hide!"

Instantly, Kagome realized the sense in his words and took off. Manten's wild blast had set the area on fire, and Inuyasha could only watch as out of the corner of his eye as she disappeared behind a billowing curtain of smoke. Then he turned his full attention back to Hiten.

The thunder demon stared down at him. "So you're finally going to take this seriously."

Inuyasha smirked, holding Tetsusaiga in one hand, and gathering power into the claws of the other. Before Hiten could attack, Inuyasha dug his hand into his side, and used the combined blood and power to send a volley of airborne claw slashes at the god beast.

Hiten was so surprised, he almost didn't block them on time. Eyebrow raised, he gave Inuyasha a pensive glare.

"Interesting," he said, "fight me some more!"

Kagome ran blindly through curtains of smoke, looking for some reasonable place to hide. Eventually she found one, after following a towering, overhung cliff face to a place where a small alcove was hidden from view by a large boulder. Behind her, she could here the sounds of the battle between Inuyasha and Hiten, and prayed that the half god beast was all right. She was pulled from her reverie, however, when a slight whimpering sound met her ears. Curious, she looked around, only to spot a bush that looked to be made of hair of a familiar colour. Getting closer, she realized it was a tail, belonging to none other than, "Shippo?"

Her only response was a half sob as another blast of thunder was heard. Sighing, Kagome got down on her hands and knees, for Shippo had managed to burry himself into the tightest corner between the boulder and the cliff, and crawled over to the distressed boy.

"Shippo. Shippo? Shippo!"

"No! Go Away! Leave me alone!" was the quavering response.

"Shippo, it's me, Kagome!"

The shaking ball of fur froze. "I-is it really?"

"Yes Shippo, really!"

A long pause..."How do I know for sure?"

Now this Kagome hadn't suspected. Gee, the poor guy must have really been scared. It took a minute, but finally, "We got kicked out of that nice house this morning because Miroku had a moaning contest with the host's daughter."

"Ka-kagome?" Finally, there was movement, " KAGOME!" And lots of it too. Shippo instantly turned around and leapt at her, and the former princess barely had time to back out of the small space so she could catch the kit in her arms. The force of his enthusiastic jump pushed her off balance and she eventually ended up lying on her back on the ground with a wet, sobbing ball of fur in her arms.

"Waaah! Kagome! I thought the thunder brothers were gonna kill you and then I was going to be all alone again because Inuyasha hates me and I didn't know what to do and I was scared and…and …Waaaahhhhhh!"

"Shhhh, shhhh Shippo," hugging him tightly and trying to calm him down was about the only thing she could think to do right now. "It's alright. Everything will be fine. See, I'm fine." And so it went for a couple of minutes until the fox kit was finally calm. Eventually, the sobbing stopped, and Shippo looked up at Kagome, just as bright eyed as ever and began asking questions.

"How did you get away from the thunder brothers Kagome? Did you run away? Huh? You must have been really fast because the thunder brother's can fly and you can't so you must have done something else, because otherwise you wouldn't be here and…" He cut off with a squeak however when another blast of thunder echoed off through the heavens. Kagome was sure she felt the ground shake underneath, and couldn't help but feel a bit worried.

"Inuyasha…I hope he's okay…"

Shippo's eyes grew round like saucers. "You mean he's fighting the thunder brothers! Ahhh! He's going to be killed just like my parents. I mean he's a jerk but I don't hate him and he's probably already tired from running all that way in the wrong direction and Ahhhh! It's all my fault. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!" He began beating his head with his tiny fists, but Kagome was quick to put a stop to that.

"Shippo? What do you mean 'he's going to be killed like your parents.' What happened to them?"

Shippo paused mid 'stupid' and suddenly became sullen. Eventually, in a very small voice he whispered. "They killed my parents because Manten wanted their furs to keep him warm…" He sniffled and for a moment, Kagome thought he was going to cry again, so she held him close again in a tight hug.

"Shippo, I'm so sorry." And then she remembered… "Manten!"

Shippo jumped, "Eeek! Where! Where!"

Kagome was quick to correct herself, "I mean, Manten had the furs! He was wearing them!" Prying herself away from Shippo, she gave him a determined look. "we have to get them back from him. Do you want to help me Shippo?"

Shippo just stared at her wide eyed before nodding.

"Good! Then let's go!"

"Come on you stupid thing, let's go!"

Miroku was standing by a nice little stream, with flowers and trees all around , while his horse drank water at a calm place, or at least tried to. It was made a little difficult with a monk yanking on the reins attached to it's mouth.

"Stupid, fucking horse! I swear when we get to Thebes I'm going to have them turn you into glue!"

From here, the Monk could clearly see the flashes from the monstrous battle that was taking place. Dammit, his good luck god beast was in there, and so was the fair and virtuous Kagome, whom he was determined to, um…make less virtuous…

Another large flash brought Miroku out of his reverie and back to the situation at hand. With renewed purpose, he grabbed the reins and began pulling with all his weight.

"Come on now, be a nice stinking, manure machine and….MOVE!"

To his utter astonishment, the horse actually obeyed. Unfortunately, the beast moved a little too quickly, in the direction of Miroku, who soon found himself sitting on his butt in the middle of a mud puddle.

With a mocking toss of it's head the horse went back to drinking. Miroku began cursing with every swear word he knew, all the while wondering what he had done to upset the furies so much.

Inuyasha knew he was getting tired. He could feel his movements getting sluggish with each block or slash he had to make, while Hiten only seemed to get faster. His side ached from the shallow wound he had received, and other various places joined in where they had been kicked as well. Inuyasha growled in frustration as he blocked another attack from above. That was the other annoying thing. Because Hiten had those wheels, it was as if he was always on higher ground, and Inuyasha was constantly trying to push his way up from under him.

Hiten made another slash, and this time, Inuyasha was too slow to block. The blade sank into his shoulder a bit, before an electric current blasted him backwards. Again, Inuyasha went skipping over the rocks, before finally coming to a stop lying flat on his back. There were stars in his vision and he couldn't seem to muster the strength to move. Blinking, he saw Hiten hovering above him.

"You, what the heck are you anyways?" It seemed like Hiten was in the mood to talk. "Your blood smells like a human's, but you have the powers of a god-beast. Who were your parents boy?"

Inuyasha just growled, pulling himself upwards and shaking his head to clear it. "What the fuck does it matter, asshole. I'm here, now fight me!"

Hiten was still looking contemplative. "Hmmm, maybe the girl was telling the truth. I didn't know Inushiro'd had a bastard son, but," shrug, "that old fart was before my time too."

Inuyasha growled, while Hiten continued on oblivious. "But that would make you a half god-beast. Heh, considering that, you're not half bad, half breed, but I'm still going to kill you in the end. Too bad for that girl huh? You know, I think she's kinda soft on you. She's pretty though, bet she'll taste real good after we roast her."

That was it. Those visions of Kagome being sacrificed were more than enough to renew Inuyasha's strength. Without warning, he jumped up, surprising Hiten, and finally getting the upper hand. Lifting his blade, he brought it down. Hiten blocked, but Inuyasha still managed to land a solid kick to Hiten's chest. The full god beast went flying backwards, and landed in a trench of his own making, complete, of course, with a few hard rocks in the way.

"Keh! Bastard, don't think I'm done yet. You and your brother are going to become rust on my sword!"

Shippo in her arms, Kagome stepped out from behind the rock and surveyed the scene before her. The smoke from Manten's blast was still thick in the air as the small grassfires raged all about the clearing. It was too think to allow Kagome to see Inuyasha, though she could clearly hear the sounds of the battle between him and Hiten continuing. Small droplets of water were beginning to fall from the sky, descending over everything in a light, random pattern.

Waving her hand in front of her face to thin out the smoke, Kagome began walking cautiously in the direction she assumed Manten had fallen in. Hopefully, he was already dead, making her job that much easier. Unfortunately, when they got there, all they found was a giant crater.

"Oh poo." Was all Kagome could think as the rain began to fall harder. A white steam rose up, replacing the black smoke, but it was still no less dense, and possibly made everything seem all that much more eerie. It certainly wasn't any easier to see through, Kagome thought as she began searching around for a sign of where the younger thunder brother had wandered off. It was her ears, however, that gave her the best clue. In a short break between the roar of the battle to her left, Kagome managed to catch a sound, or more like a voice.

"Here hair-sacrifice-girl. It's okay to come out. I won't hurt you…"

Oh yeah right, Kagome thought, but at least now she had a general direction to work with. The question was, how could she approach him, without him seeing her?

"Kagome," Shippo was tugging on her arm, "do you hear him?"

Kagome nodded, "but we need to get close without him seeing us."

"Don't worry. Leave that to me!" The fox kit leapt out of her arms and pulled out a leaf from somewhere within the folds of his clothing. Curious, Kagome watched as he placed it on his head, and seemed to concentrate. A blue fire engulfed him, and he did a few flips in mid air, seemingly weightless. Then there was a loud "POP" noise, and Shippo was gone.

In his place was…"Hiten?" Then the differences became obvious as she noticed the tail, and when he spoke, his voice.

"Here, you pretend to be my hostage, and when I let you go, you grab…them, and we'll both run in separate ways." Kagome almost had to stifle a laugh at the sound of Shippo's voice coming out of Hiten's body, but she was impressed with the plan. So, a few seconds later, Shippo disguised as Hiten, grabbed Kagome's arm, and headed into the smoke.

Manten was lost. He couldn't see anything, and he couldn't find his hair-sacrifice-girl, and his head was still ringing and sore from the fall he'd taken, so he couldn't really tell which direction to go in to find his Hiten An-chan. Today was turning into a bad day, and now all he wanted to do was sit down and cry.

"O-Oi! M-Manten!"

Manten looked up and around. The rain was falling steadily now, and the white steam had almost completely overwhelmed the black smoke. Slowly, a shadow emerged from the mist, and Manten's eyes lit up with joy as he recognized his one and only, "Hiten An-chan!" and indeed it looked like him. Manten's eyes became watery, and instantly, he threw himself at his brother's feet. "WAAHHH! You found me Hiten An-chan! That hair sacrifice girl pushed me off of my cloud and then ran away, and I got lost in the smoke, but you found me Hiten An-chan! Thank you! Thank you Hiten An-chan!"

Manten was so busy groveling, he didn't notice the absolutely shocked look his brother was giving him, or the glance that was exchanged between Hiten and his hostage. They needed him to be standing up to steal the furs from around his waist.

For the moment, Manten seemed to have not even noticed that his hair sacrifice was there. Eventually, Shippo, er Hiten, cleared his throat and in his deepest voice, which wasn't very deep, and quivering just slightly in fear at the moment, began, "Uh," cough "It's okay, uh, don't worry about it."

"You're the greatest Hiten An-chan!"

"Uh…yeah." Cough, "I found Kago- um er, you're girl, so let's get going."

Shippo barely had time to think as Kagome was snatched from his grasp and pulled into the arms of Manten. In one swift move, the thunder god beast had grabbed her under her arms and held her up like some kind of doll. With a childish glee in his eyes, he shouted, "You found her, you found her!" and began dancing and tossing Kagome in the air until she almost felt sick.

"AH! STOP IT!" Yelled Shippo, er Hiten…

Mnten froze in the action of tossing his hair-sacrifice-girl in the air, luckily, before Kagome had been launched. He blushed sheepishly, and muttered an, "Oops, sorry Hiten An-chan," before tucking Kagome under his arm again like a sack of wheat, and turning to face his "older brother."

Shippo felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. This wasn't supposed to happen! The panic began to rise even more as the fox looked up into the eyes of his parents' killer, and saw them regarding him scurrilously.

"Oi Hiten An-chan, what happened to your flying wheels?"

"N-N-Nothing!"

Manten's eyes only grew wider, "Hiten An-chan, is there something wrong with your voice? Did that white haired guy stick a frog in your throat?"

"N…No!" Manten was getting closer, which only made Shippo's voice rise in pitch with fear. The only good part about the entire situation was that Kagome had taken this opportunity to begin slipping the furs off from around Manten's waist.

"Are you sure Hiten An-chan. Your voice sounds funny to me-Hey! Is that a tail?"

Before he could even think, Shippo felt a hand close around his furry little tail, effectively trapping him and shattering his last nerve. The fox kit shrieked for all he was worth as a puff of smoke signaled his de-transformation back into a little fox child. Manten was so surprised, he dropped his prized hair-sacrifice-girl, who instantly slipped the furs from around Manten's waist and took off.

Kagome took maybe ten steps before she turned around and realized that, while Manten had released her, it was only so that he could now take up a double hold on the fox kit. One hand to securely wrap around his tail, and another to try and pin the child down and prevent his terror induced biting and scratching. Kagome frantically began looking around for some kind of help, her eyes eventually landing on the collection of large rocks that were under her feet, glistening and slippery from the rain. Bending down, she picked up the largest one she could hold, and launched it at the back of Manten's head.

"You Bully!" Manten both felt and heard the rather loud crack as the rock bounced off the top of his head. Startled, he turned in the direction it had come from, only to find another one already headed straight for him. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size." He used one hand to deflect that one, but more kept coming. Eventually he dropped the fox kit, who sprinted away at top speed, and began using both hands to block the shower of rocks that were being hurled at him. However, even that wasn't really good enough. Soon one hit him in the eye, and another hit him in the nose, and Manten quickly found himself getting very frustrated and angry.

So he did the only thing he knew how to do in a battle, he began blasting every threat in sight, mainly Kagome.

Luckily, the girl recognized the threat of Manten's attack before it actually happened. Dropping all her rocks, she stooped down to grab the furs she had promised Shippo she would get, and then proceeded to take appropriate precautionary measures. Mainly, run like zephyr!

The first blast sounded off like a deafening roar in her ears, but she managed to dodge it by tripping and skidding across a bunch of slippery, wet rocks. She was back up without missing a beat, pounding across the soaking terrain in her sandals as fast as she could.

"Why you! You tricked me! Come back here, hair-sacrifice-girl!"

The mist had started to clear, making it easier to see where she was going, but also easier for Manten to see her. He was chasing after her, she knew, and although she was faster, the soaked furs and her drenched skirt were weighing her down and tripping her up. Another blast, and Kagome dove for the side, using the furs as a buffer to land on.

"Come back here!"

Running again, the rising shadow of a cliff became visible. If only she could find that hiding spot again. The earth shook and the ground trembled as another beam of power skimmed passed her and into the cliff face beside her. She used the furs as a shield again, to protect her from the flying rocks of the explosion. Running along the cliff face now, Manten close behind her, she finally spotted the boulder ahead. There was a deafening roar in the air now, as Manten let loose another blast of lightening. Or was it? It seemed too loud, the deafening crack could have split the heavens or burst Kagome's ears. A step away from safety, the sky began to grow dark, too dark. Kagome dove…

Inuyasha stumbled mid swing as the ground underneath him shook and a thundering crack set his ears ringing. No, this one was beyond thundering, and even Hiten seemed to have stopped, in mid air. Inuyasha watched as the thunder god-beast's eyes went wide, and followed his gaze to where a cloud of dust seemed to be rising from a newly formed pile of rubble at the bottom of a cliff…wait a minute.

"MANTEN!" Hiten's frantic yell succeeded in making Inuyasha's ears ring even louder, before he took off in the direction of the landslide. The air was clear now, the wind having blown away most of the steam, but the rain continued to fall steadily, soaking Inuyasha's clothes. Exhausted, Inuyasha sheathed his sword and took a seat on a nearby rock. Grumbling, he shook his head, trying to clear the annoying ringing in his ears, but it just wouldn't go away. In fact, it just seemed to get louder, and started to take on the sound of a young voice, yelling something. In fact, it kind of sounded like Shippo, crying for Kagome…

"Don't fucking tell me!"

He was up like a shot, sprinting over the rocky plateau, rain drops flapping off his clothes and the white strands of his hair. The wench couldn't have been there! She must have hid somewhere else! Anywhere else! Even so, his heart sank as he neared the ruins of the cliff side. The smallest fallen boulders were up to his waist, and they just got bigger from there. Following Shippo's voice, he leapt from boulder to boulder, until he finally came to the deepest part of the landslide, next to the face of the cliff.

There was Shippo, pulling frantically at the loose rubble with his puny fists, using his body to push at the smaller boulders without success. He was crying, constantly calling Kagome's name…

Kagome…

Inuyasha let the drenching rain pull his bangs down to cover his eyes.

"H-Hiten An-chan, is it really you?"

The older thunder brother leapt to the ground before his sibling.

"Of course it's me Manten! Who else would it be!

His words were harsh but his tone was soft as he took in the state of his younger brother, or what was left of him. Half of his massive body had been crushed under a giant rock and a large amount of blood was slowly mixing into the muddy earth. Manten's breathing was hitched and raspy, his eyes held excruciating pain, and yet his movements were sluggish. When he spoke, his words were gasping and slow.

"Th-That m-mean hair-s-s.. girl, and a fox kit. Th-they pretended t-to be you when I was lost. I-I thought I'd f-found…and then she th-threw r-r-rocks at me. And I chased…and…it h-hurts…An-chan…"

"I know Manten. I'll get them for you, I swear! It'll be okay."

Though even as he spoke, Hiten knew it was a lie. Manten's face was as pale as the white marble rock surrounding him, and his breathing was getting slower. Hiten reached down to grab his brothers hand, wincing at how cold it was.

"H-hiten An-chan?"

"What is it Manten?"

"Was I a good little brother? I-I know I'm not very s-smart b-b-but-"

"Shut up! You were the best little brother anyone could ever ask for. Don't you even think that I would change you in any way!"

"…T-Thanks…. An-chan?"

"Yes?"

"You were the best….An-ch-chan…too…"

Note: I went back and made some alterations on the details surrounding some of the myths. Turns out my source of information was confused between two gods, mainly Dionysus and Periapus. I guess that's what I get for believing Louis de Berniers to be a reliable source of Greek mythology. Not only is he a rotten author stylistically, but he obviously can't read or do research all that well either. Oh well. It was fixable with only a few minor changes, so I don't recommend re-reading the whole story. However, while investigating Greek mythology, I came upon some interesting facts about King Minos, or actually his wife, and the original legend of the minotaur.

Apparently, she was the daughter of the God Helios. After she had given birth to the minotaur, she blamed her husband for invoking Poseidon's wrath, and used her demi-god powers to curse the King. From that day on, whenever the king would have intercourse, his climax would produce only poisonous scorpions and snakes, instead of his seed, thus killing his partners and rendering him effete…and I made this guy the father of Naraku! Damn am I good, or just really, really lucky! .

Also, for those of you who were interested, I got the descriptions for the sacrifices right out of Homer's "The Odyssey." It was one of the books I had to read for my Independent Study Unit. On a rating of one to ten, I'd give it a 7, which is pretty good considering that the poem was written over 2000 years ago.


	12. The Meaning of Words

**Chapter 12 **

The only warning Inuyasha got was a battle yell before something slammed into his side and sent him flying into the remains of the cliff side. Stunned for a moment, Inuyasha watched lethargically as Shippo began screaming and running away, Hiten, hot on the kit's tail…wait a minute!

Inuyasha pulled himself to his feet. The thunder god-beast was chasing the child, a mad rage in his eyes, and taking swings at the fox kit made purposely to scare but not kill, yet. He was sputtering some nonsense from his lips, about teaching the fox a lesson for picking on his younger brother. Inuyasha didn't catch much of it though as he leapt in front of the god-beast, sword drawn, to defend the kit from what may have been the fatal blow.

"Fucking bastard! Out of my way! I'll kill him! I'll kill all of you! Teach you to fucking pick on my little brother!"

The mad rage fueling Hiten made his attacks fierce and wild. He was bristling, sputtering mad, and it wasn't too long before Inuyasha managed to find a perfect opening. Without missing a beat, Inuyasha brought his fist up, and punched him in the face. Hiten went flying back, smack into a large boulder and cracking it in half. Though still angry, the last thunder brother was slow getting back on his feet. Inuyasha snarled, pulling back into a fighting stance, awaiting his opponent's recovery, but not without a few choice words.

"You fucking shit-head! The brat has every right to do whatever he wants to either of you. You're the bastards that killed his parents!"

"Shut up! You know nothing! I'll teach you the pain of the man who lost his little brother!"

At that moment, Inuyasha fully expected Hiten to charge, and he would have, if something had not caught his eye. Inuyasha saw his gaze shift, a moment before he raised his weapon in that direction, aiming for a bush with a large fluffy tail sticking up from just behind it.

"DIE!"

"Shippo! Shit, Look out!"

And so the fox did, looking up just in time to see a bright flash of light headed his way. Then there was red, and he was flying through the air. He felt the ground connect with his body as he tumbled, and felt pain, but surprisingly little of it. Curious as to why he wasn't dead, he opened his eyes to see, "I-Inuyasha!"

"Fuck brat, get out of here!"

The half god-beast was struggling to stand, digging his sword into the ground for support. Shippo's mind barely connected with the fact that Inuyasha had shielded him, before Hiten attacked again. Flying down from above on his wheels, Inuyasha barely had time to raise Tetsusaiga to block the attack. Terrified, Shippo watched as his friend was pushed down to one knee. He wanted to help, but he couldn't beat Hiten. If only there was something else he could do, there had to be.

He was startled out of his thoughts by a snapping sound, not too far away. Curious, he looked up where Hiten's fiery wheels were struggling to stay lit while being pelted by the rain. Suddenly an idea struck the kit. He could help!

"Fox Fire!" The blue flame went up, engulfing the right wheel and swiftly reduced it to char. Feeling the imbalance, Hiten stumbled, landing on the ground where Shippo had stood not seconds before. However, his job done, Shippo had been wise enough to make a swift get away, and was already out of sight.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha had taken advantage of Hiten's imbalance to push the thunder brother off and away from him. Panting, he stood upright, while Hiten did away with his other wheel, and got his footing on the slippery terrain. They both looked like a mess, drenched hair and clothes sticking to their skin, lips and cuts bleeding, but finally the advantage on both sides would be even. Hiten smirked at the circumstances. This asshole may have been a half breed, but this battle had already cost Hiten more than any other full god beast had in the past, much more. The severity of the situation was not lost on the older thunder brother, nor was the irony. Perhaps the fates were against him in this.

Shaking the thought from his head, Hiten pulled into a battle stance, for the last time.

The final battle had been short, mechanical. Eventually, it had been pure chance that had won Inuyasha the victory. Hiten slipped on a rock, not used to the terrain, and Inuyasha had swiftly sliced him in half. The victor simply stood there, somewhat stunned as he watched the older thunder brother's body dissipate on the wind.

Soon after, Inuyasha collapsed on his knees and the sword transformed into a rusted stick of metal once again. Not that the hanyou noticed or cared. Hiten's last word had been his brother's name, and something about seeing him soon. Lucky him. Inuyasha wouldn't be seeing Kagome that soon, and the former monster of the labyrinth wasn't quite sure that was a good thing. The question, "What do I do now?" seemed stuck in his mind, but the answer was completely elusive.

So he sat there, kneeling under the dripping circle of the horizon, feeling the water course through his clothes and over his skin. It cooled the burning ache of his wounds, and weighed him down. The sound of water slapping against the stones around him was calming, as it drowned out the sounds of the rest of the world.

He was alone now, like his room in the labyrinth. He didn't know anyone, and no one seemed to care that he existed. At one point, this wouldn't have mattered to him…so why did it make such a difference now. Fuck, if only he had been there, maybe he could have saved the one person he had meant anything to.

"Inuyasha? Are you okay?"

The hanyou blinked at the voice, but continued staring at the ground. He recognized it as Shippo's, but was still almost surprised to see the kit there when he looked up. Hadn't he run away?

"…go away Shippo."

Now the kid would leave. The brat hated him, just like the monk, and every other person alive…

He was startled out of his thoughts when he felt a soft weight gently press against his knee. Curious, he opened his eyes and shifted his gaze, to find Shippo attempting to wrap his arms around the limb, the only body part his tiny size would allow him to reach.

But no matter how small the gesture was, to Inuyasha, it had the effect of being kicked by a horse, in a good way. Something in him felt lifted, because even though it had been a long time since Inuyasha had been hugged, he still instinctively recognized it as an attempt to bring comfort. It meant someone did care, someone was worried, and that made a big difference, even if that person barely reached his knee.

"Inuyasha? Are you better now?"

Shippo didn't look up, and for that Inuyasha was glad, because he wasn't sure what his face had looked like until that moment. However, in response to Shippo's question, Inuyasha suddenly found the strength to straighten his back, lift his head up, and even regain a bit of his usual, though guy demeanor.

"Keh! I'm fine twerp. I'm not some weakling like those thunder guys."

Maybe, things would be okay after all…

Inuyasha was pulled from his thoughts however, as Shippo suddenly jumped up and bopped him on the head. "Then why are you sitting here? We have to save Kagome! And you're the only one who can move those rocks. Stupid!"

Inuyasha was left with his mouth hanging open. Didn't the kid understand? Dammit, why did he have to be the one to explain it? Why did Kagome even have to die in the first place? Oh yeah, because he hadn't been there to save her.

It was that thought that brought about the feeling of rage, and made Shippo's words seem almost taunting. "Why don't you go save her Inuyasha? Why not? Because she's dead, and it's your fault. You screwed up, half breed, and it killed her."

His next words were born of anger and guilt, "I can't save her stupid! Kagome's dead. She got crushed by all those rocks, and now she's nothing more than a mangled bloody pulp, got that! I can't fucking save her!"

Shippo looked back at him, hurt by his sudden outburst, and replied just as heatedly.

"Then why was I just talking to her a minute ago? Huh? If she's dead, how can she talk? Stupid!"

There was a pause as Shippo's words sunk in…

"What!"

The rain had stopped and a brisk wind was just beginning to break the clouds apart as a bruised, tired, water logged and muddy monk approached the plateau where the battle had taken place. He'd given up on trying to drag the horse back here, and instead left it tied up where it had insisted on staying. To be honest, he wondered if the beast hadn't more sense than he did at the moment. The sounds of battle had long since ceased to be heard from the top of the hill, signifying that a victor had been named and that the other party was dead. Miroku could only hope that the side that won wouldn't be inclined to send him on a one way ticket across the river Styx.

Suddenly the sound of voices could be heard ahead, and deciding to side with caution, Miroku slid in behind a nearby out cropping, waiting to see who was coming around the corner. He didn't have to wait long as a heated and angry, but somewhat annoyingly recognizable voice, began approaching his hiding spot.

"What the fuck were you thinking you sonofabitch! I told you to go fucking hide and you…" That was all Miroku heard, or needed to hear, and the rest of the conversation should not to be repeated anyway. Inuyasha was obviously yelling at someone as he approached, tossing out expletives at random that didn't always make sense, but then that was an Inuyasha thing.

"Inuyasha, stop pulling on Kagome, you're hurting her!"

The relief Miroku had been waiting for came when Shippo's voice joined in with Inuyasha's voice, letting the monk know that his good luck charm was okay, and that Kagome could save him from Inuyasha, if the half god-beast became angry at the poor, humble, priest.

"… Keh!"

Inuyasha finally shut up, and Miroku decided it was time to make his presence known. Slowly, he stepped out from behind the rock, only to face a blushing hanyou, who was storming away from a shocked and somewhat flushed Kagome. Confused, Miroku stood there as Inuyasha stormed passed him too and continued down the path. He, Kagome and Shippo were left alone.

"Miroku, you're all right!"

"Lady Kagome! I'm so glad that you are safe. When you were snatched away, I can't tell you how worried I was, I-"

He was just about to envelope his beauty in the strong, welcome embrace every maiden needs after going through a frightening ordeal, when he was interrupted by Inuyasha. "Oi! Hurry up you wimps, we don't have time to talk!"

Kagome's attention was instantly drawn to the hanyou, and she only paused long enough to give Miroku a heart melting smile before rushing to catch up, huffing under the weight of two large, orange colored furs that she had managed to acquire somewhere, and Shippo, who was riding on her shoulder. As she passed, the kit caught Miroku's confused gaze, and hopped over to his shoulder long enough to assure the monk that he would "explain it all later," and then he too was gone.

Sighing, the monk watched as Shippo ran forward and alighted on Inuyasha's shoulder, who was now walking just ahead of Kagome. The hanyou didn't even complain about the kit being on his shoulder, which struck the monk as odd. Miroku was also surprised to note how well the three seemed to go together, walking in a comfortable silence, almost like a family…

With a shake of his head, Miroku cleared his mind of unwanted thoughts, and began to hurry down the path after his three traveling companions.

They traveled down the mountain and back to the river where Miroku had left his horse tied up, with all the supplies. When they arrived, Kagome did some scouting around the area and eventually found an ideal spot, under a beautiful old olive tree, surrounded by soft grass and flowers. There, they put the souls of Shippo's parents to rest and held a small ceremony, led by Miroku. They buried the furs and piled small stones up to make markers for their graves, and when that was finished, the three older travelers went quietly down by the river to bandage up their wounds and prepare a lunch, giving Shippo a few minutes alone by the graves, to pay his last respects to his parents.

Or, at least that was what Kagome had said to do, though Shippo really had no idea what she meant by that. Though he appreciated what everyone had done for him, Inuyasha for avenging his parents' death, Miroku for saying such nice things about his parents, though the priest had never really known them, and Kagome for being so nice to him. However, the fact was that his parents had died a long time ago in Shippo's mind, though how long exactly, the kit couldn't remember.

When the thunder brothers had attacked, his parents had told him to run, and so Shippo did. He ran back to their den and waited, and waited, and when the thunder stopped and the sounds of battle died away, and no one came for him, then he knew that his parents were dead.

And so he ran some more, away from the area the thunder brothers had overtaken. At that time, he had been too worried about surviving to really grieve. He had hitched a ride on a merchant's cart, and eventually reached the big city where everything had amazed him for the first time. There were so many people and so many buildings and shops that the kit couldn't get enough of them. He met Miroku one day when the priest had allowed the kit to hide under his robes after stealing some food. Then he'd come to live in the temple, and then he'd met Kagome and Inuyasha and everything else had happened.

And now he was here, at his parents' graves, trying to think of something he should say, that he hadn't said before. Miroku had once told him that the dead can hear what someone thinks about them, and that fact had given Shippo a great outlet to get some things off his chest. Usually, whenever he was locked in the cupboard while Miroku had moaning contests with girls, he spent his time just talking to his parents, telling them about his day, and how he was, and what everyone else was doing around him. He knew they were listening, and even though he couldn't see their reactions, he knew what they were. He knew they were happy for him when he had met Miroku and found a place to stay. He knew they didn't like it when he stole things with Miroku, but that they still loved him anyway. They would always love him. After all, they were his parents, and he'd see them again, one day.

"Oi! Shippo! Hurry up over there or your lunch is going to disappear.

"Inuyasha!"

Shippo smiled as Kagome instantly hushed Inuyasha and began chewing him out for not being sensitive to Shippo's feelings. Kagome was great, Miroku was really funny, and even Inuyasha wasn't so bad. He had saved Shippo's life back there after all. They were all his friends now, and they had places to go together. His parents wouldn't be leaving him, he could always talk to them, and he knew he'd see them one day.

"Papa, Mama," he began, "I know you can hear me. I have to go now, or Inuyasha's going to eat my lunch. He can be such a jerk sometimes. I promise, I'll always do my best to be good and make you proud, and I'll always remember everything you taught me. I'll see you one day, but now I have to look after my friends."

"Oi! Shippo!"

"Inuyasha! Sshhhhhh!"

"Coming!" he called out, before turning back to the two mounds of dirt. "Papa, Mama, I'll talk to you later." was all he said. Then he added a quick, "Love you," before sprinting off to join his friends.

Kagome sighed and wiped the sweat from her brow, gazing up to look at the perfectly blue sky. Why was it that one could never be happy with the weather one got? Just this morning she had been hoping that it would not end up raining all day. Now, all she wanted was a nice soft shower to cool her down and wash away the sweat. It was scorching out, with the large, rolling hills on either side of the path blocking out any sort of breeze. Without looking, Kagome knew she was sweating, down her back and under her armpits in a most unladylike way. Looking ahead of her, she cursed feminine modesty, for Inuyasha had taken off his shirt and was now walking along bare-chested accept for the few bandages Kagome had wrapped around his middle and his shoulder.

She huffed again as she remembered that Inuyasha was in a mood and not talking to her. At lunch, she had tried to be nice to him, and even thanked him for rescuing her from under that rock pile. However, that had only seemed to make things worse. Inuyasha had instantly stiffened and looked away from her, a low, rumbling growl in his chest. He had refused to meet her gaze since, and she couldn't for the life of her think of what she had done wrong.

So now all she could do was watch and wonder as he walked along ahead of her through the heat of the day. Actually, she pitied Miroku the most at the moment, as he walked along in the sun, wearing all those dark robes and holding the horses reins. The beast had refused to let the priest ride him, and so they had been forced to walk, Inuyasha in the lead, followed by Kagome, and then Miroku, and then the horse who was carrying all the supplies and little Shippo who had curled up on the saddle and fallen asleep. She envied him the most.

Sighing, she turned her gaze forward and almost tripped on a stone embedded in the ground. She caught herself, luckily, but winced as she managed to pull a bit at the scab on her knee. Her bruises didn't hurt all that much anymore, but she'd had to re-bandage her arm and clean out the cuts on her knees before they had left. It almost seemed a bit nostalgic really. Kagome could barely remember the last time she'd had scraped knees. She'd tripped while running up the garden path to greet her father after he'd come home from a hunting trip on the mainland. She'd started crying and her father had made a few sympathetic awe's before scooping her up in his arms and bringing her inside to get cleaned up. She had been five, maybe, that had been ten years ago now. Funny, it almost seemed almost that long since she had seen the rest of her family, before she had been taken away...

She shook her head and continued on, locking her eyes forwards to prevent her from tripping on anything else. Again, she was instantly met with a perfect view of Inuyasha's nearly naked back, and then automatically shifted her gaze to the ground as the air seemed to take on a new heat. Slowly, she got a hold of herself. This was no time to be falling victim to feminine desires, she had to find her family. Resolve set, she looked up again, and this time forced herself to feel nothing as she looked up and ahead.

At first, she tried looking around Inuyasha, and then beside Inuyasha, and then away all together, at her feet. But it hurt her neck to walk like that, so eventually, she gave in and settled for just… observing Inuyasha's back. Strange, she thought, he hadn't even owned a shirt when she'd first met him, but he had never affected her like this then. Curious, she looked, this time trying to notice the differences between his back the first time she'd seen him, and now.

His smooth skin was the first thing she noted. Alright, it had always been smooth, but back then it had been pale almost to the point of being transparent, and dull to look at. Now a thin sheen of sweat made it glisten with every movement, and the paleness had been overcome with a healthy pink, that was almost to the point of being tanned now under the sun.

He also looked bulkier, not in an oversized way, but in a lean, muscular way. Kagome tried to remember the way he'd looked when she'd first seen him, sitting on the beach blinded by the sun. The image her mind conjured up was that of a frail, stick like creature that looked even weaker than Kagome herself. Well, okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but the difference between then and now was still quite significant. Looking at him now, he was still a bit on the thin side, but she could not deny the fact that with every step he took, some muscle or other would move, the glistening of sweat letting her know exactly how well defined that muscle was. Absently, she wondered what he would look like with all those muscles tensed at once. Her mind responded with a mental image of Inuyasha, locking swords with some faceless enemy, straining against his foe, all his muscles…

Kagome almost slapped herself to get the picture out of her head, and instead turned the motion into wiping more sweat from her brow. She spent the next five minutes on the trail staring religiously down at the dirt and trying to avoid thinking up any more mental pictures while her blush subsided.

Late evening found the group lounging around a warm fire, somewhere on the edge of a forest. Over the passing of the day, the tall mountains had smoothed out into rolling hills, decreasing steadily in size until it seemed likely that they would disappear all together sometime tomorrow. Miroku seemed pleased with this, as he informed the group that it was a sign that they were nearing Thebes, the birthplace of his lord, Dionysus. He believed that there would be a temple they could stay in, and all of them would get a nice room and some very, very good wine…

Inuyasha almost choked on his own tongue when he heard that. He didn't know if he could survive another night at one of Miroku's temples. Fuck, now he wasn't even sure if they were making babies or having moaning contests, and the confusion only seemed to sour his mood.

Thinking back, he tried to remember when he had started to feel this pissed off. Well, okay, he had been pissed off the whole day. First, he had been woken up way too early, then they had been run out of town, attacked by the thunder brothers and he'd run across half the country looking for Kagome. They'd fought the thunder brothers, won, and then he'd had to dig Kagome out from under a pile of solid rock almost twice as tall as himself.

No doubt, the morning had stunk, but that had ended hours ago. Why was he so angry now? And at who?

Why don't you save her?

I can't save her stupid! Kagome's dead.

It was all that wenches fault. He'd heard Shippo telling the Monk all about Kagome's "brave" attempt to rescue the furs of his parents. That bloody, stupid, bitch! He ought to go wring her neck for taking chances like that with herself. Didn't she realize she had a quest to finish? How was he supposed to be her "protector" if she never listened to a word he said. Fuck, he'd told her to go hide! What was he supposed to go with himself if she went and died?

He remembered the moment Shippo had told him he'd heard Kagome's voice, and everything after that seemed to be a blur. Running to the rock pile, tossing boulders as if they were beach pebbles, smelling her blood, and then finally seeing her face, knowing she was okay…

He didn't know what had come over him at that moment. Anger had welled up in him so strong, he felt his whole body tremble, his teeth clench, and he had wanted to hit her so hard. How dare she! How dare she make him feel like this! Like his chest was too tight and his eyes were burning and his throat was constricted. How dare she smile at him and ask if he was alright. Of course he wasn't okay, he was angry, his whole body shaking in restraint, forcing himself not to pull her to him and scream in her face.

He had screamed though, screamed as he pulled her halfway down the hill. He hadn't realized it until Shippo had spoken up, but he had been squeezing her wrist hard enough to leave a red imprint of his own hand, claws and all. Somehow, it made him feel better, and she deserved it after all.

"Thank you for digging me out of there today Inuyasha." Her words at lunch. As if that made everything all better. It made it sound as if she hadn't even expected him to be there to save her in the first place. He should have been. What if she hadn't made it to her little hiding place? What if a small rock had landed on her head and killed her, or even knocked her out? Then Shippo would have never have found her, and she would have died in there, slowly, starving day by day…

He couldn't help the shutter that went through him with that thought. It was all the wenches fault, and that was why he was angry with her.

"Inuyasha? Is something wrong?"

He jumped out of his thoughts to look at her as if she had grown a second head.

"I mean, is there anything out there? You're growling."

"…Keh! There's nothing wench, go to sleep."

The others had done the same by now, dropping off quickly after a long, hard day of walking and fighting.

Kagome, however, wasn't satisfied with his answer.

"Well then, if nothing's wrong, why were you growling?"

Her answer was another, "…Keh!"

Kagome's face turned sour. "Inuyasha, I know you're mad at me about something. Tell me what it is."

"You didn't wait for me to come save you." Nope, that would never work. She'd probably get all emotional on him and give him a lecture, he didn't want to deal with it now. In fact, he didn't even want to talk about it with her. So what else could he be mad at her for? Stubbornly, he searched for anything else that she had done to piss him off today. Eventually, he came up with, "You lied to me."

"Eh?" Kagome blinked.

Inuyasha continued, "You told me it was called 'making babies,' but this morning you told Shippo that it was a moaning contest. Which one is it wench?"

Kagome's mouth hung open for a moment as she digested this information. "… … You're still going on about that!"

Inuyasha just shot a glare at her from the corner of his eye and repeated, "Which is it wench?"

Kagome gave a large sigh in frustration, but was really too tired to argue the relevance of the question against a stubborn half demon. So, after a long moment, of thinking, she began, "Well, it isn't really called either."

"Wh-what?" she lied to both of us?

"No, um, I mean, making babies IS what is does, but it isn't called that."

Oh, well at least he had one up on the brat there. "So, then what's it called wench?"

He watched as Kagome's face grew red. "U-um…well, that depends I guess…"

"On what."

Kagome took a deep breath. "Well, it depends on how you mean it."

Now Inuyasha was confused, "What the fuck does that mean?"

A sigh, "It means…that it has different names, depending on who is doing it, and how they um…feel for each other."

"Oh," he was lost. Luckily, Kagome picked up on this, but her face only got redder for it.

"Um, I mean….Okay, I guess…If two people do it who love each other…uh…then it's called um…making love."

"…making love…" Inuyasha repeated the words back to her, nodding in understanding, looking incredibly deep in thought. Kagome wondered how she managed to get herself into these situations.

"Yeah, making love. Uh, well, then there's just the technical name for it, and you use that when you're talking about it, but you don't really know um, who's doing it or how they feel or anything…then it called…sex."

"…Sex…" This was fun, just when Inuyasha thought Kagome's face couldn't get any redder, she'd tell him another name for it, and he'd be proven wrong. He held back his laughter as he asked her, with his most innocent face, "What else is it called?"

He heard Kagome swallow, loudly, before she continued. "Um…well…then….when two people…uh…" She hurried onward. "Do you remember what they were doing at Miroku's?"

"Keh!"

Kagome took that as a yes. "Well, when it's done like that, with someone you don't know, or really like, uh, just for fun…um…then it called….uh…. …"

There was a very long pause and Inuyasha became impatient. "Well, What?" the suspense was killing him, really.

"Um, well," and then in a very small voice, "Ahem…fucking…"

Inuyasha stopped just short of bursting out loud with laughter at Kagome's red face to say, "Huh?"

Kagome must have thought he couldn't have heard her, " I said…Um….ah…"

"I heard what you said," Inuyasha was getting impatient, "but, " and now he was put in a bit of a corner. How could he admit he hadn't really know what that word had meant. "I mean…Keh, I just thought it meant something else."

Kagome slowly digested what he was saying. "You mean, you never knew what that word meant?"

"Keh!" damn, she figured it out, "How the Fu…" he stopped short, crossed his arms over his chest and said rather loudly, "How am I supposed to know the meaning of every word you people say."

Kagome blinked. "But then…where did you learn all that awful language!"

Inuyasha shrunk back and away from Kagome. Her tone had sounded so disgusted with him. "Keh, none of your business, bitch…" Wait, what had he just called her? Bitch was just another one of those words that he didn't know the meaning to. Just like shit, crap, wench, jackass, bastard…and a whole lot of other words he'd heard in the labyrinth. It wasn't his fault if his language was bad. Those people had used those words all the time. He just thought it was normal to say them…

Kagome had seen how he had turned away from her and taken up a sulky posture that carried into his tone of voice. Obviously she'd said something wrong and she sighed. For a tough guy, he was awfully sensitive. But then if he didn't know the meaning to any of those words, then obviously it couldn't have been his fault that he said them, could it?

"Inuyasha?"

"What." Was the sharp reply. Yup, he was way too sensitive.

"Why don't you tell me any words you don't know the meaning to, and I'll see if I can't tell you what they mean. Then, you can decide whether you want to use them or not?"

Still not breaking his sulking position, Inuyasha turned his head just enough to look over his shoulder at her, suspicion written all over his face and being acted out by his ears. Kagome had to bite back a small giggle. He was behaving like a little child. "Inuyasha, I'm not going to hurt you, I just think you should know what you're saying to people so that you don't accidentally say something you don't mean and get yourself into trouble."

Well, that seemed to make sense to Inuyasha. But even so, he still took his time in turning to face her, just to let her know that she wasn't completely off the hook yet. "Keh, fine wench."

An hour later, a red faced Kagome sat across the fire from a very flabberghasted Inuyasha. So far, they had gone over bitch, fuck, fag, asshole, ass, jackass, shit, wench, and several others that managed to stump even Kagome. Right now, Inuyasha was trying to grasp the concept of the word whore.

"You mean they get paid to fuck?"

"Yes."

"And they don't like it?"

"Uh…I don't know."

"But it's a bad thing."

Kagome shook her head and rubbed her temples. This was not turning out as planned. First, Inuyasha failed to see the insult in a lot of these words. Calling someone a faggot, or a dead stick of wood, didn't seem very insulting. And why was it so bad to be a female dog? He was half dog demon, if he had been female, wouldn't he have been a "bitch"? Why was it just the females? Why was saying "terd" or "crap" not as bad as saying "Shit," even though they all meant the same thing. And why was a jackass specifically a donkey and not a horse. They both looked very similar, and smelled equally as bad, but somehow calling someone a horse wasn't as bad. Calling them a cow or a pig was though, and yet people ate both animals constantly. Was it insulting to call someone food? It was all very confusing.

And so, Kagome had to go into detail, describing the way people interpreted things, rather than just what they were. Female dogs were bitches. It wasn't the fact that they were female that bothered anyone, it was the fact that they didn't seem to care who they mated with or whether they got pregnant or not. In the eyes of some people, they did nothing but go around and mate, or fuck, as Inuyasha had corrected her, and have litters of puppies. Calling a girl a bitch was to imply that she partook in similar practices, and was generally dirty and of shallow moral, just like a female dog.

Inuyasha had been insulted, and they had spent the next five minutes arguing the relevance of the insult, that it wasn't dogs that were dirty, but the human cities people built on the dogs' land. At that point, Kagome had just told him to move on to the next word. And so they had continued down the line.

"What's a bastard?"

Kagome rubbed her forehead, "A bastard is a fatherless child."

Inuyasha took a moment to think. "What do you mean, like the father died or something?"

"Uh, no-"

"Then what? Does the kid have two mothers?"

"Would you let me explain!" Once again Kagome's face was redder than red. Inuyasha would never tell, but he was secretly enjoying seeing just how red he could make her. Kagome let out a calming breath and began.

"No, a bastard child is a child who was born outside of marriage. It doesn't have a father because either the father didn't want the child, or because the mother had… sex, with so many guys that she doesn't know who the father is."

"But, why wouldn't the father want the child?" That confused Inuyasha.

"Well, remember how I told you that some people just have sex for fun, and sometimes they don't mean to create a child, but they do anyways?"

Inuyasha thought for a minute "…So you mean, if the mother was a bitch and she fucked someone, then the child that she didn't mean to have would be a bastard?"

Kagome put her head in her hands and sighed. "Yes." But really she was thinking, "I've created a monster!"

"…What's wrong with that?"

Kagome's face was red again, but this time out of frustration. "It's just bad. People think that because the child's parents had no morals, that the child too will have no morals and will therefore be a bad person."

"But that's bullshit!"

For once Kagome agreed with his choice of words. "I know Inuyasha, I know."

"It's not the kid's fault. It's the parent's fault!"

"Yeah." Despite the heated argument, Kagome was slowly falling asleep. The fire had died out and the warm blankets of their stolen sleeping pallet were just too inviting. Kagome had almost completely dozed off when Inuyasha's voice cut through her half formed dreams.

"Kagome?"

"Wha?"

"What's a monster?"

"mmnh, A big animal…with lots of hair…big teeth…claws…scares children."

Hesitantly, he held his hands before his face, taking special note of the pointed ends to his nails, claws. He felt around in his mouth taking note of his elongated fangs, and then the long mane of hair that ran down his back. "Oh." Was his intelligent response.

"…Kagome?"

Snore…

Monster.

Two eyes watched them in the dark.

Bastard.

Kagome's definition had been correct, but not complete.

Bastard.

But now was not the time to ponder such things. Instead, his mind moved to other thought.

Why had Inuyasha not known about those words? About sex?

It was strange, but the young man seemed almost disconnected to everything human related.

There was something tickling at his brain. Who was Inuyasha? Where had he come from?

Oh well, it didn't matter now. He's find out eventually. For the moment, sleep was fast approaching, embracing him in its comforting abyss.


	13. Cursed City

Chapter 13

The rising of the sun marked the beginning of another day of travel for the group. This time, however, Miroku's horse had decided to be slightly more cooperative, and so they moved on throughout the morning and into the afternoon at a fairly good pace, Miroku and Shippo seated upon the horse, and Inuyasha once again carrying Kagome piggyback style. As predicted, the ground soon smoothed out into long stretches of flat arable land, and by mid afternoon, the city state of Thebes could be seen swiftly approaching.

"And so, just as Hera suggested, the next time Semele saw her mysterious lover, she asked him to grant her a request, but only after making him swear on a vow that could never be broken, even by a god, that he would grant that request."

"Zeus gave his vow, not knowing that Semele had been visited by Hera, and as instructed by Hera, Semele's request was that he, Zeus – though she didn't

know that he was Zeus, should show her his true form. Though Zeus begged and pleaded with her to change her request, the princess of Thebes stood firm, and

so, Zeus, the god of thunder, was forced to reveal to her his true form. You know what happened then, don't you?"

"No, what?" The sarcasm in Shippo's voice was undeniable by this point, but then who could really blame him? He'd heard this story about ten times already today.

Miroku, however, continued on undaunted. "Well, because Zeus's true form is pure thunder, the second he reveled to her his true form, Semele was burned to

a crisp and died."

"Really? Wow." More sarcasm on Shippo's part.

"M-Hm," Miroku nodded, still oblivious to Shippo's tone,

" However, because the child she was carrying at the time had been half god, it was able to survive the blast. And so, Zeus took the unborn child and made a cut

in his own thigh. Then, after placing the child inside, he stitched the cut back up, and waited.

Shippo made a grossed out face.

"And you know what happened then?"

"Gag."

"A few weeks later, Zeus sliced open his thigh again, and my lord Dionysus was born! Of course, Zeus couldn't look after the child so he sent Dionysus to live with his mother's sisters in the very city that we are now approaching, Thebes. Oh, isn't it exciting Shippo?"

"Oh wow, yeah, really. Um, I think I'm going to go visit Kagome now, bye!" And with that the kit was gone, leaping through the air and running ahead to catch

up to their other friends. Left alone once again, Miroku sighed.

"Thank Dionysus, I thought that runt would never leave. Now, to do a little 'sightseeing'…" And with that, he pulled the reins of his horse to the right, and disappeared down a side street.

"Kagome!"

The former princess smiled as she felt a familiar weight alight on her shoulder. "Hello Shippo-chan."

"Oi runt, get off!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "That's okay, Inuyasha. I think I can walk from here, thank you."

The half god beast simply snorted and let her down. His ears twitched and Kagome instantly remembered, "Oh, Inuyasha your cloak, we have to hide you!"

"Keh!" Was Inuyasha's only comment.

"Miroku. Mioku? …Shippo, where's Miroku?"

The group suddenly stopped, realizing that they were one member short.

"Shippo, where did Miroku go?"

"I dunno. He was right there a minute ago."

"Keh, the pervert took of about five minutes ago, something about wanting to go sightseeing." Inuyasha informed them, having heard Miroku's mutterings to

himself. Kagome, however, didn't look too pleased.

"What?" she cried, "But he has everything! All our food, money, bandages, your cloak! What are we going to do?"

"Keh! Forget the stupid cloak, there aren't even any people around here to worry about."

"Of course there's people here Inuyasha, this is one of the biggest city states in all of…" She stopped short when she realized that Inuyasha was right. They were no where near the center of town, but there should still have been at least some sign of life. Instead, the shutters and doors were all closed and some of the buildings were even boarded up and falling apart. What on earth was going on…

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Kagome voiced her opinion.

"Keh. You worry too much wench." Inuyasha raised his head, lightly sniffing the air, "Besides, there are people here, I can smell them. They're just not here."

Shippo rolled his eyes, "Well duh!"

Bonk!

"Waahhhh! Kagome he hit me!"

"Keh, you deserved it, runt!"

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not! Right Kagome!"

"Huh?" Kagome had been too busy thinking to notice, or at least that was what it seemed. "I have an idea, lets head to the center of town, there will have to be at least some people there. And maybe we'll be able to find out where Miroku went as well. Does that sound good?"

Kagome didn't wait for an answer before nodding to herself and setting off in the direction of what looked to be the center of town. Behind her Inuyasha and Shippo looked at each other, shrugged, and then began walking after her. What was the point in arguing if Kagome wasn't there to pick the winner?

Meanwhile, Miroku was busily wandering around town, intent on finding a place that would aid him in achieving his…er, um…goal…However, his search was

interrupted when he heard a voice.

"Ah! Lemme alone!"

"Here he is, he's over here!"

"Come on! Let's get him!"

His curiosity piqued, Miroku quickly leapt from his horse and cautiously made his way into the alley where the young voices were coming from.

"Ouf!"

"Take that, stupid bastard!"

"Yeah, it's all your fault that this happened to our city. You and all the other bastards in the world!"

"Ah!"

"Low down, no good!"

"No! Lemme-ack!"

"We'll get you good! All of you!"

"Especially that stupid wannabe god! I heard he's a bastard too!"

"Kill all the bastards!"

"That's quite enough children!" The five boy's who had been picking on the smaller boy suddenly stopped their actions. Their heads all darting up as one to see who had interrupted their bullying. They regarded a rather stern looking Miroku holding his staff for a grand total of about two seconds in silence before panic overcame their faces.

"Who's he?"

"I dunno!"

"Let's get out of here before we get in trouble."

And just like that, the budding hoodlums scampered off like rats out of the back end of the alley, leaving Miroku alone with the little bundle of pain left in their wake. Sighing, Miroku dropped his staff and shook his head. "I guess some things never change.."

His ears caught the sound of a feint whimper, and he looked down into the eyes of a small, scared little boy.

Wh-who are you?

I am Mushin, a priest of Dionysus.

…wh-why did you save me?

Miroku gave his head a shake and cursed under his breath. Fucking stupid memories. Instead, he turned his attention on the boy before him. Slowly, he

kneeled down to be at eye level with the child. "It's all right, they're gone now."

The boy blinked, as if realizing for the first time that his attackers were gone. In the next instant, angry eyes were locked on Miroku's.

"Feh! I could have handled them myself!"

As if trying to prove his point, the grubby boy shot to his feet proudly, only to stumble back down to the ground a minute later. "Ai!"

Miroku shook his head, trying to forget how much the young man sounded like a certain half god beast he knew. Kneeling down before the boy, Miroku

managed to gently coax the wounded ankle from the protective grasp of it's owner's hands. He watched as the boy scrunched up his face, as if waiting for

pain. When none came, the boy opened his eyes again.

Miroku quickly looked down, so that the boy wouldn't know he had been watching. He could only assume that the child was between 10 and 12 years old. But so thin! Terribly dirty, and suspicious of everything. Again, the priest refrained from comparing the young boy to someone else, and instead turned his attention to the wounded ankle. "Nothing much," he concluded after a minute, "just a sprain, though you shouldn't walk on it for a while."

The priest looked up, meeting the boy's gaze so suddenly that the paranoid young man actually stiffened visibly. "I'm Miroku by the way, a high priest of

Dionysus."

Miroku may have suspected any number of responses to that statement,

but he certainly didn't think the poor lad would actually get up and try to

run away.

"Keh, there's nothing here, wench." Inuyasha felt the need to state the obvious, but still Kagome could not believe her eyes. They were standing in a large open space in the very heart of the town that was obviously meant to be a market, and yet, it was abandoned. Empty barrels and remains of old vendor's stands still stood, while wind swept up the dust and spun it around in miniature twisters. The effect was downright eerie.

"Do you have any food?"

Kagome just about jumped out of her sandals as the old cracking voice broke her thoughts, and spinning around to face the source of the voice didn't help much either. It had old, saggy brown skin, a hook nose complete with a wart, and a pair of thin, trembling lips.

"O-Oh. I'm sorry m' am! You startled me."

The old lady eyed her with greedy, glittering eyes, and repeated, "Do you have any food?"

Kagome gave the lady a strange look. Was this some kind of greeting here? "Um-well, I think I may still have a crust that I saved from lunch… just give me a

moment."

While Kagome began searching her pockets, Shippo watched the old lady from Kagome's shoulder. Frankly, this old lady really freaked him out, and the feeling of apprehension only seemed to get worse as the old lady began to inch closer to Kagome, a thin trail of drool trickling from the corner of her mouth.

"Um…Kagome?"

"Not now Shippo I'm looking…I know it's here somewhere…"

"B-but, Kagome!"

"Ah! Here it is!" Kagome beamed triumphantly as she pulled out a quarter of a bun she had saved from lunch. Upon looking at it, however, she frowned. "Oh

no, I'm afraid there's some dirt on it. Hang on a second, maybe I can get it p off…"

"FOOD!"

Kagome barely had time to react as the old lady lunged at her, reaching for the crust Kagome held in her hands. Instinctively, Kagome jerked back, holding it too high for the greedy little old crone to reach, sending Shippo tumbling off of her shoulder. "Hey- Wait- I…"

"Food! Food! Give me food! Give it to me!"

Obviously, the old lady wasn't in a mood to be patient. An instant later, She began grabbing and clawing at the young girl before her, pressing forward while Kagome was forced back. "Hey! Ow! What are you-,Inuyasha!"

The half god beast, who had been off to the side laughing his ass off for the last few minutes, suddenly leapt into action. Grabbing the old lady by the scruff of her dirty brown dress, Inuyasha yanked her away and held her, just far enough to be out of Kagome's reach. For her part, the crone didn't even seem to notice Inuyasha was there. Her eyes were still locked on the piece of bread held in Kagome's hands, arms outstretched, reaching.

"Food! Food! I want food!"

"I think she's possessed," was Shippo's only comment as he leapt back onto Kagome's shoulder, watching the flailing old woman.

Kagome just nodded dumbly, still in shock from the sight she was seeing. Was Shippo right? Was she possessed? What about the rest of the town's people?

She was quickly pulled out of her thoughts, however, as a shadow appeared over her head.

"Give us the food, and no body gets hurt…"

"Huh?" confusion was written plain on Kagome's face as she turned again, this time meeting the gaze of a middle aged man, armed with a wooden club. He was

tapping it threateningly against his hand, and Kagome cringed and backed away. However, it didn't stop there. Now that Kagome's attention was on her surrounding area, she suddenly realized that the square was slowly filling up with people, all of them headed straight for her.

"Did someone say food?"

"There, the girl, she has bread!"

"Food! There's food here!"

"It's mine!"

"Give it to me!"

"I-Inuyasha…" Kagome began backing away, trying to make herself smaller as the crowd closed in around her. Inuyasha was in a similar state of confusion and wariness, as he continued to hold the old lady at bay. Slowly the circle became tighter, forcing them together, Kagome, Shippo, Inuyasha, and the old lady, surrounded by an angry mob.

"J-just give it to them, Kagome!" Squeaked Shippo. However, Kagome seemed to have gone stiff from fear, so it was Inuyasha who made the first move. Shoving

the old lady towards the crowd, he snatched the bread from Kagome, and tossed it up and over the crowd.

To his despair, only half the people in the circle ran after it, the rest of them stayed, unmoving. "What?" he yelled, "We gave you your fucking food! Now

go!"

One skinny, drooling man came forward, his eyes glistening with greed. "You have more, don't you!"

"No I don't!" It seemed Kagome had gotten over the frozen panic phase, and was now into the screaming panic phase. "I don't have any more!"

"Did you hear that! She says she has more!"

"Let's get it!"

"Take it all!"

They moved in, and Inuyasha snapped. It was too many people, too close to him. The next thing Kagome knew, she was flying through the air, over the

heads of the crowd, and landing in distant corner of the marketplace. Inuyasha set her down gently, as the crowd turned to charge them. Kagome watched as

Inuyasha took up a fighting stance, the tips of his claws crackling energy.

"No!"

The words were followed by someone throwing themselves against Inuyasha's back, and grabbing his arms in a weak hold. Acting on instincts, Inuyasha

whirled on her, stopping himself from shredding her just on time.

"What the fuck are you doing, wench?" There was anger and confusion written all over his face, the mob was swiftly approaching.

"Just…if you can help it…don't kill them…" Kagome gave him one more pleading look before giving his arm an affectionate squeeze and letting him go.

"…Keh!" Inuyasha turned back to the mob, fists ready.

And then, as soon as the first one was within striking range, a strange sound filled the air.

"What the fuck was that?" Inuyasha punctuated his sentence by breaking some guy's nose.

"It- it's a bugle!" Was Kagome's stunned reply.

"What the fuck is that?"

Another seven or eight people got the wind knocked out of them, or black eyes before a horse suddenly emerged from the chaos, parting the crowd and forming

a barrier between the angry mob and Inuyasha's group. Again the bugle sounded, and slowly, the crowd came under control.

"Nothing to see here! Move on! Nothing to see!"

Now that there was more space, Kagome could see the men on horses, slowly driving the crowds back, using the flats of their swords as persuasion on the

rowdy few.

"Move on! King's orders! Nothing to see! Who might you be?"

Kagome snapped out of her spectatorship, realizing that the last question was directed at them. "Travelers." She supplied quickly, still not quite believing

what was going on, "From out of town."

For a long moment, the soldier just gave her a funny stare. "Then you'd better come with us."

"Ah, get away! You Asshole! I didn't do nothing! I swear. Leave me alone!"

The young man was still struggling to get to his feet, having fallen after only taking a few steps on his first attempt. Miroku watched in shock as the strange boy continued to half crawl/half drag himself away. How could someone be so adverse to wine and merriment?

"Um, perhaps you mist understood. I am a priest of Dionysus, the god of wine and merriment. Born and raised in this very city?"

"He's a demon! A bastard of Zeus! Everyone says so!" If any words could be like a slap to the face for Miroku, it was those words. But the boy wasn't

finished yet. His fear having been overtaken by pure rage, the youth was now slowly forcing himself to stand, fists clenched, as if ready to fight. "Everything is his fault! It's his fault everyone's so hungry, and angry! Just leave us alone! I hate you!"

The boy charged, only to fall short when his ankle failed to support his weight. He caught himself on his hands and knees, and much to Miroku's

surprise, managed to fight back the tears the priest knew had to be just below the surface. The boy was shaking with the effort, scraping his grubby

fingers along the hard packed earth.

To say Miroku was impressed would have been an understatement, but the same would also be true of his being both appalled and confused.Obviously, there

was something going on in this city, and his lordship, Dionysus, was being blamed for it; a condition that he, Miroku, the handsome, heroic, (yadda, yadda, yadda,) high priest of that same cult would rectify to bring peace to this land once again. And who knows, maybe he'd even get a reward or two or…however many beautiful women there were in this city…

And so, putting on his 'business' face, Miroku spoke to the young man again.

The approach of evening found the priest walking along the rode holding the reins of his horse, talking calmly to the young boy who sat astride the beast. It hadn't taken much to win over the boy's respect and trust. Miroku's smile and charm were so perfect after all, that no one could doubt his trusting face, not even the most suspicious little street rat in the entire world. The boy would start spilling his guts any second now, as soon as he managed to pull his face out from the orange he was eating. Of course Miroku hadn't had to bribe the boy with food, but the poor thing was so thin as it was, the priest had decided to give him a few things out of the goodness of his heart.

"Hey priest man, turn right at the house with the blue shutters."

"Of course. Are you ready to tell me what has happened to this fine city?" Asked Miroku politely, silently congratulating himself for keeping the strain out of his voice as he turned the desired corner. He was rewarded with the sounds of more open mouthed smacking from behind. Miroku grit his teeth so hard he felt his jaw muscles jump.

"It's all because of the sphinx."

"The what?" Miroku had been so busy directing a mental stream of curses at the boy that he'd almost missed the words. "A sphinx?"

There was a loud sound of gulping from behind. Then more ravenous smacking, broken by words, "Yeah. A sphinx." Gulp. "It was sent here by Dionysus,"  
chew, "three months ago." Here another gulp and a bit of a pause. "Apparently, the king wouldn't worship Dionysus because he didn't think he was really a   
god. So Dionysus got angry…"

Miroku, who was now looking back at the boy, was able to see him shrug, as he chewed and swallowed the last of the bread roll he had been eating.

"So the sphinx began attacking everyone who tried to go in or out of the city, asking them a riddle and then eating them when they couldn't answer. Oh, stop  
here."

Miroku did as obeyed, and watched as the boy slid down from the horse and landed. Still favoring his uninjured leg, the boy straightened and began limping off in the direction of a nearby alley. He stopped after a few steps to turn to face Miroku.

"So, because of this, no one could go out to work the fields, and no one could get in to sell food. The reserve supply ran out, and now everyone is hungry. I don't mind it too much 'cause I'm used to it. Actually it's kinda funny seeing all the rich people turned all skinny now. But everyone's angry, they're looking for someone to blame I guess. I'd watch out if I were you priest man. If you tell them you're on of 'His' high priests, they're libel to boil you alive and eat you right after." 

Miroku took a minute to absorb this all in. The situation was indeed grave. Should he deny his faith for the sake of his own life?...

"Well, so long sir. Good luck."

"Ah, you too…" Miroku hardly took notice as the boy disappeared into the darkening ally. …Then there was the question of if he should help these people  
at all. Certainly they deserved grave punishment for their crime of faithlessness. However, there was the humane aspect to consider. They must believe in the divinity of Dionysus now. What was the reason to prolong their punishment? Surely his Holiness had reason. Yet what of the plight of that boy, and others like him, bastards all through the city.

Miroku was so deep in thought as he walked along that he barely noticed a limp sack that slipped off the horse's back to land on the ground with a quiet slap. Still in deep contemplation, he stalled his horse long enough to bend to pick it up. Strange, he mused, he couldn't remember packing with him an empty sack before. Let's see now, this morning he'd packed up the bed roll, the bandages, the money, and of course the foo…

Miroku looked at the sack in his hand, then back along the way he'd come, then back to his hand. The brat had eaten all their food! They would have to buy  
more…

Then the priest recalled the words of the boy…there was no food in this town. The sphinx had seen to that. And they still had a long journey ahead of them.

The priest stood motionless in the street for another minute or so, thinking. With a loud sigh, he realized that there was no point in going after the boy. Even if Miroku did manage to find him, the holy man was of the sentiment that not even Inuyasha would want to eat regurgitated food, and that was saying something. 

The monk felt a chill pass down his spine. Kagome would be angry with him about the food, Shippo would probably bite his ankle, but Inuyasha…a sudden image snaked it's way into his brain. Inuyasha, standing on the summit of the Acropolis, blood dripping off his fingers, the white marble around him painted red with the blood of fallen soldiers…

Miroku shivered again, forcing himself to mount his horse, half tempted to run away. The half-god beast had killed an entire army and sustained in injuries barely a scratch. He had walked away from a battle with two god beasts created by Zeus himself. He was also not renown for his calm temperament. Miroku absently found himself praying for Dionysus to send a spirit to guard His poor defenseless priest, preferably a god beast of some sort…a female…with breasts, and…

The idea struck him so suddenly that he jerked his head up while he rode, yanking the reins and thus bringing the horse to a standstill. There was such a beast, in this very city! Perhaps…

And then the monk smiled, a quick plan forming in his mind. Of course, it was so obvious, like killing two birds with one stone!

Regaining his confident smirk, giving himself a mental pat on the back, he pushed his horse into a trot, and then to a fast paced canter letting out a chuckle as even more pieces began to fall into place. Yes, it was the perfect plan! Now, if only he could find the half god Beas-

"Oi! Letcher! Where the fuck have you been!" The priest snapped his head up and whipped it around, just in time to see a shadow fly off the roof of a building and land in the middle of the road behind them.

Miroku flashed him a 'friendly' smile. "Ah, Inuyasha."

Oh yes, the gods had smiled on him today.


	14. Woman's Dilemma

Sunset came early to the city beside the mountains, already the sun had set behind their towering gray peaks, the only remaining light reflecting off the clouds like burning embers of a dying fire. Eagles circled in the distance, high enough to catch the last few rays of direct sunlight, their piercing cries echoing in the silence of the evening.

Far below, Kagome watched them from the steps of the castle, leading up to the main hall. Her figure, wrapped in a pure white dress, stood out in stark contrast against the smooth gray marble of the small courtyard. Her midnight hair, held up by a metal circlet, glinted palely in the reflected light from the clouds. Indeed, one may have mistaken her for a goddess, had it not been for the small scab which remained visible on her upper arm, a souvenir from their visit to Athens.

The clothes were on loan, from the queen herself who had insisted on having Kagome's garments washed and repaired while they stayed. She wore the complex style of clothing with an ease acquired through years of practice, her movements fluent and graceful as she sat, perched on a low wall beside a paved walkway. And yet, she did not feel comfortable in them, not so much physically, but mentally.

The last time she had worn clothes like this had been the day her country had been overrun by Crete, the day she had lost her family, everyone she knew and loved. She felt tears of frustration rising to her eyes as she recalled how she had watched the war ships moving in from the horizon, watched as their soldiers had come raging up from the shore lines, trampling their crops, overcrowding the small harbor town. Even as she fled, she watched, separated, captured, watching her home burn.

She realized now that had she been a man, she would have been able to fight, instead of helplessly watch.

Shaking her head, she recalled earlier events of the day. After the incident in the market, the group had been brought to the castle, and eventually presented to the Queen, and the king's head advisor, the king being absent at the time. Kagome had been thrilled to discover that he had left for Delphi not two days ago, and was expected back within the week. Queen Jacosta was a kind woman, welcoming them with open arms, and even offering them a place to stay. The advisor, however…

"My Queen, with all due respect, this is no time to be entertaining guests." To the group he explained, "Our fair city has come under hard times, and we cannot afford to strain our resources. So, I will ask you straight out, how did you come to our city?"

He was staring at Inuyasha as he spoke, but Kagome answered, "Excellency, if you please, we simply followed the road from Marathon, to enter into your fair city."

The advisor had narrowed his eyes at her, before taking a few steps forward to pass by her, and stop several feet before Inuyasha.

"Is this true traveler? You simply walked in? You encountered no trouble with the sphinx?"

Inuyasha just proceeded to dart glances between Kagome and the advisor, having been told earlier to let her do all the talking.

"Your Excellency, I'm afraid I do not…"

"Silence woman. This concerns matters far beyond your comprehension."

Kagome watched as an eagle swooped down, dropping from the sky like a stone. She let out a frustrated sigh.

She had of course known that such men existed within the world, but her father had always treated her as if she were, more or less equal with her brother. She was taught the same lessons from the same tutor, and learned rhetoric for public speaking and matters of running a state. She knew how to read and write better than most women twice her age. She had learned mathematics and matters concerning money handling. At home, if any man had dared belittle her, or think less of her for being a girl, her father would readily defend her and her thoughts.

But her father was not here now, and with no one to support her, the advisor had simply cast her aside within the space if a minute. He had proceeded to speak directly to Inuyasha who, despite her most pleading looks, had blown up in frustration, cursing and swearing until the advisor had also refused to speak to such a boorish, uncouth, infidel. Kagome hadn't been able to leave it at that, not wanting to part in the bad graces of Theban royalty. So she had begged and pleaded with the advisor to wait for the arrival of Miroku, their 'leader', who was certainly very well spoken and much more civilized.

Another sigh, and she rubbed her temples as she felt a headache building. Inuyasha certainly hadn't looked happy when he had left to look for the priest, and there was a good chance he was mad at her, but it couldn't be helped. Something was going on within this city, and Kagome got the impression that they wouldn't be be able to leave until it was cleared up. If the advisor wouldn't speak to Inuyasha, and he wouldn't speak to her, than their only hope for getting any information out of him was Miroku. She only prayed that the priest would be on his best behavior.

Things had started looking up a little after that. The queen had stepped in and had managed to convince the advisor to let them stay. After all, all travelers were said to be under the protection of Zeus, and the last thing the city needed at the moment was to face the wrath of another angry god. This had only increased Kagome's feelings of foreboding. The city was being punished by a god, and they had some how ended up in the middle of it.

She and Shippo had been shown to an empty room which they could sleep in, with one for the men just down the hall. Sleeping mats and blankets were brought by servants, and clothes had been provided for Kagome. Shippo had gone off to explore the castle, leaving Kagome with nothing to do but sit, haunted by her own thoughts.

Funny, it had never bothered her before, being a woman. Whenever she had met up with some of her peers, girls her own age, she had always thought them to be brainless and air headed, concerned only with boys and their own looks. Now, thinking back, Kagome wondered if maybe the foolish one wasn't her instead. By now, most of those girls had already been married and given birth to at least one child. Their futures were secure, and any grievances they had could be taken up by their husbands. If she had been married to a prince of another kingdom, Kagome would have convinced him to rally their own troops to come to the defense of her island when Crete had attacked. Had she been a man, she would have gone to their allies directly, and asked them to aid her in taking back her kingdom.

As it was, she had no army, no power, no allies who would listen to the demands of a woman. It made her feel bitter inside. While she was physically capable of surviving on her own, of working to make money; and mentally able and educated to do such tasks as bookkeeping, money lending, judging, or any other number of jobs, she wouldn't be allowed to because these "matters" were all far beyond her fragile, female "comprehension". She was in fact helpless, but only because, without a male to defend her, they could write her off as unimportant. Inuyasha and Miroku weren't just her friends, she needed them with her in order to be taken seriously, to have someone voice her thoughts for her so that no one would realize they were those of a woman. If they were to leave…

She was chewing on her bottom lip now, trying not to be overwhelmed by this new thought. After all, Inuyasha had only come with her because he hadn't had anything better to do, and who knows why Miroku had decided to tag along. With a grimace, Kagome remembered the angry look on Inuyasha's face as he had stormed out of the palace in search of Miroku. Quickly she shook her head. Inuyasha would forgive her, they'd fought before after all…it wasn't like he would stay mad at her forever. It was just some small little thing…nothing to get concerned over.

Yes, nothing to get concerned over. Biting down hard on her lip, she realized she was just worrying herself into a depression. Inuyasha wouldn't leave her, and Miroku would hopefully be with them for a while longer yet. She couldn't let this one little incident get to her…

"Your Highness!"

Kagome was startled out of her thoughts by a racket at the gate. Soon, the doors were opened, and a soldier was seen running up the stairs, dressed in full armor. He paid no attention to Kagome, nearly knocking her over as he ran passed in his haste to get to the main hall. The young woman caught herself, and sent a withering glare after the soldier as he disappeared into the main hall. Really, how rude!

With that, Kagome sat down again, trying hard to take her thoughts down a path that wouldn't leave her less depressed. She had gotten instructions on how to get to Delphi from a helpful page. She had to cross over the first ridge of mountains to the east, and follow the valley beyond north for maybe a day or so. Kagome doubted it would be quite that simple, there would have to be dangers…and hadn't the page mentioned something about a cult of Artemi….

"No! NO YOU LIE!"

It was a very high pitched shout from the throne room. Queen Jacosta?

"You're LYING! He can't be dead, he can't be!

"Your majesty please…calm."

"I WILL NOT BE CALM! NO! My husband! My king! NO!"

Wandering slowly up to the open doors of the hall, Kagome stopped just before them as she registered what was being said. Jacosta's husband, the king…dead? Kagome listened for more, but the queen had reduced to sobbing uncontrollably while the advisor spoke too quietly to be heard. She watched as some maids began to lead the queen away. Kagome bit her lip as she recalled the Queen's kindness. How sad, but how did it happen?

"Oi wench, what the fuck is that noise?"

Kagome nearly jumped out of her skin, whirling around, hand on her heart, to face Inuyasha. She barely had time to take note of the rather cold way he regarded her before he was nearly shoved aside by a second familiar person.

"Lady Kagome! I must say, you look absolutely stunning. I nearly mistook you for a goddess!" before she could speak, he had grabbed her hand and gone down on one knee, kissing the back of her palm. Kagome felt a blush rising in her cheeks.

"Mmmm, such delicate skin. I wonder, lady Kagome, if all your skin is so soft and pure…" He went in for another kiss, but Kagome pulled away, albeit a little flustered.

"M-Miroku. Wh-" She stopped to collect herself, "Where in the name of Zeus have you been? How dare you take off on us like that! And with all our stuff too, it had better be safe!"

"Patience Lady Kagome, all will be explained in good time." Miroku moved to walk passed her, heading for the main hall. "At the moment, there is some business I would like to discuss with the rulers of this city."

Miroku moved away, and Kagome was again faced with Inuyasha's piercing stare. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, but Miroku…

"Miroku wait!" the priest continued undaunted towards the entrance to the main hall. "Miroku, I don't think this would be a good tim…"

"Relax Lady Kagome, I shall handle this. You don't need to concern yourself with these matters."

Kagome tried not to think of how much of a dismissal that sounded as she chased after him. "No seriously Miroku! Now's not a good time, a messenger just arrived and…"

"SILENCE!"

Kagome stopped dead in her tracks as the advisor's voice rang throughout the hall. Miroku, undaunted, continued onwards to the front until he stood facing the stern old man. Slowly, Kagome trailed in behind him, with Inuyasha following at some distance after that. They watched as Miroku bent down on one knee, bowing deeply, before standing again. The old man acknowledged Miroku with a nod, his face revealing nothing. At length he spoke…

"So, you are Miroku, leader of this group of women and infidels?"

Miroku took a step back, allowing him the chance to cast an amused look at the rather put out looking pair behind him. Women and infidels was it?

"A yes, your Excellency. I have much to discuss with the ruler of this kingdom, but first allow me to introduce myself, my name is indeed Miroku. Miroku, high priest of Dionysus."

He bowed slightly again, but not out of respect. If one had been able to see his face, they would have taken note of the satisfied smirk there as he observed the advisor turn various shades of angry: pink, red, crimson, and then some rather fleshy shade of purple.

"Guards! Guards! Seize them! Guards!"

From the courtyard outside, and the palace inside, the sound of clanking metal could be heard as the soldiers hastened to do the advisor's bidding. Inuyasha however, was much quicker. Before Kagome could scream, he had run up and grabbed the advisor by the saggy flesh of his throat. Kagome's surprised yell and Miroku's warning shout stopped the half god beast from tearing the advisor a new hole to breath from, but he refused to relinquish his grip. The soldiers filed into the room, but stayed far away from the band of travelers.

"Don't worry about me, even if I die, kill…" he was cut off with a quiet choke as Inuyasha began to squeeze the flesh in his hand. Unsure, the soldiers began to advance. Miroku thought quickly.

"Not another step!" The soldiers paused, once again uncertain. Behind him, the advisor was turning slightly blue. Miroku continued, "The next person who moves to attack dies by Inuyasha's hand! The man is half-god beast, and will kill without hesitation."

Miroku winced as Inuyasha's growl increased a notch in volume shot the priest with a fierce glare.

"Sorry Inuyasha, it is necessary…" He said it low enough that only the hanyou would hear. The glare became sour, but the growling did slightly abate. The guards also seemed to shift back slightly.

"Inuyasha, let him go!" Kagome was concerned for the old man's safety, she didn't think he could breathe.

Inuyasha answered without looking at her, "Keh, why should I wench!"

"Thank you Inuyasha, that is enough." The half-god-beast regarded the Priest for a second, before slowly easing up on his grip, allowing the advisor to stumble to the ground. In an instant Kagome was beside him, apologizing profusely, and helping the old man to his feet. She spared a second to turn glare at her golden eyed companion.

"Inuyasha, how could you! He's just an old man!"

"Keh! Shows what you know bitch! I just saved you're stupid ass."

"Now, now Inuyasha…" Miroku didn't think this was time for a lover's quarrel.

"Move on! I may be old but I am not so frail as to require the assistance of a woman to stand." The argument was halted as the advisor stood and spoke, shrugging off Kagome's hand and stepping away from her in distaste. The girl looked like she was about to protest, but...stopped. She was looking at Inuyasha, Miroku noted, a rather pleading look in her eyes.

Inuyasha, of course, didn't seem to notice, and any chance Miroku would have taken was lost as the advisor turned to him and spoke.

"Bastard, say your peace and then leave our fair city immediately."

Miroku's eyebrow ticked. Any other insult, and the priest wouldn't have minded…but now it was personal.

"Ah yes, your Excellency, as I was saying, I would like to speak with the ruler of this kingdom, regarding the current…er…situation your lovely city is in."

The advisor narrowed his eyes, "And what do you know of the condition of our fair city."

Miroku's face lit up with a mischievous smile. "I have it on good authority that the city is being plagued by a sphinx, sent here by my lord Dionysus. It seems the king of this city, no doubt as per some misguided advice, was convinced to omit my God from his due worship." He flashed the advisor a winning smile and was almost certain he heard the advisor growl. He continued, undaunted. "Your Excellency, I have come here in the name of my god to free your city from the curse of the sphinx, provided that your king is willing to repent his passed transgressions by fulfilling certain demands I make in the name of my god."

Miroku caught Kagome eying him suspiciously. He flashed her his most conspiring smile, complete with a wink for encouragement, before turning back to the advisor. The man frowned thoughtfully.

"How exactly do you, so called priest of a bastard, plan on defeating the sphinx where many of our best warriors have failed."

Miroku's eyebrow ticked twice at the double insult, but his smile remained unwavering.

"That is none of your concern, all you need to know is that I shall do the deed only after the King has sworn a sacred oath that he will meet my demands, as specified."

"And what are your demands? I can make you no promises."

"I am aware of that, which is why I must ask to speak to the king. Surely, he will be interested in the welfare of his kingdom, you should fetch him immediately."

"The king is indisposed at the moment."

"And how long will he be indisposed for?"

"That is none of your concern, priest!"

"…Miroku…."

Miroku briefly turned his attention to the young woman before him. She spoke quietly, "Miroku, the King is dead, a messenger arrived…"

"SILENCE! Woman, know your place!" Inuyasha flattened his ears as the shout echoed off the marble walls. To Miroku, the advisor added, "Nothing has been confirmed, as far as I am concerned, the King is still alive, and will return at the end of the week. If you wish to wait until then, so be it. You have your rooms. Good night!" And with that, the advisor turned, storming out of the room, his whole demeanor radiating rage.

Miroku smiled. "Well, that went quite well, thank you Kagome, Inuyasha…"

He turned to find the pair too busy ignoring each other to listen to what the monk had to say. He sighed, this was going to be a long night.

Kagome sighed, slumping down on her sleeping mat in the corner of the room. She was trying to convince herself that they didn't mean it, not really. That, that…jerk of an advisor just had her feeling self conscious, that was all. Inuyasha was just ticked off about something, and they'd sort it out in the end. Miroku's plan to get rid of the sphinx wasn't anything weird or dangerous, he wasn't trying to hide it from her at all. It would all work out in the end, she would see. She had to think optimistically about these things, isn't that what her mother had taught her? Thinking negatively would only make those thought's come true, right?

"Kagome!"

She looked up as Shippo came bounding into the room, a happy smile upon his face. It was a contagious smile, as Kagome soon found herself grinning in return as she took the boy in her arms and held him in her lap. "Hello Shippo, did you like the castle?"

The little boy nodded vigorously in answer. "Uh-huh, uh-huh! I went all over, and I found the gardens, and the biggest bed you've ever seen Kagome, and a dinning hall, and the Kitchen! You don't have to worry about giving me dinner Kagome, this old lady in the kitchen was really nice and she gave me some food, but it was kinda weird. Kagome, do people in castles always eat pickled vegetables and rice? Anyway, so, I was in the garden an…"

At the reminder of food, Kagome's stomach gave a rumble and she realized that she hadn't eaten anything since midday.

"Shippo, hold on a second, I'm gust going to go next door to see if Miroku has any food."

The kit stopped his castle explorations and politely hopped off of her lap, allowing her to stand. "Okay Kagome."

There was a knock on the door. Miroku stopped talking long enough to glance at Inuyasha, know that the half god beast already knew who it was.

"Keh! What do you want wench?"

Kagome, was calling on him at this hour, oh happy day!

"Sorry, to bother you, I just need to grab the bag with our food in it, I'm starved."

Oh shit!

"Ah-hahaha…Sorry Lady Kagome, Inuyasha and I are in the middle of an important meeting right now. Why don't you go see if the kitchen has any…" Miroku held his breath through the long pause that followed.

"…what are you two talking about in there? Is it about your plan Miroku. You'd better tell me what it is soon, or else…"

"Ahahaha…no, of course not Lady Kagome. We were just discussing manly issues, nothing to be worried about."

"Then why did you say you were in an important meeting?"

Oh, fuck, he was caught on that one…

"I'm coming in there…"

"No! Don't!" The monk instantly plastered himself to the door, preventing Kagome from opening it. "I mean, uh…hahaha…well, the truth is Kagome, I'm not dressed and well…"

"Keh! Go away wench, you're not wanted."

There was a long pause. Miroku held his breath.

"Oh…" at the sound of retreating feet, Miroku heaved a sigh of relief.

"Okay letcher. Why can't I smell food in here anywhere?"

At the sound of growling behind him, Miroku almost heaved up his lunch. "I-Inuyasha…uh…I can explain…"

The half demon stood there, the yellow of the candle light making his eyes glow dangerously. "Talk fast lecher…"

"Well…" gulp, "…you see, the truth is, I gave it all to a poor starving little boy. H-he was being beaten up by a bunch of kids, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him…" Well, that was the truth, mostly.

Inuyasha, however, had never been one for pity…and Miroku gulped as his growl increased in volume.

"…Wait, wait…I can get it back, promise! Just think Inuyasha, if we defeat the sphinx, they'll give us whatever we want! We can ask for a whole cart load of food, and slaves to carry it!"

"What do you mean we defeat the sphinx? I thought you were going to do that, letcher."

"Well, I am. Uh…but your help would be greatly appreciated. Just think Inuyasha, you'll be a hero! They'll write songs about you for years to come."

Inuyasha continued to regard the priest suspiciously, but soon he turned, stalking back to his sleeping mat and sitting down, sword propped against his chest.

"Talk, priest."

After waiting a moment for her tears to subside, Kagome went back to her room. As much as she hated to admit it, Inuyasha's words stung. Sure he was usually gruff, impolite, and painfully blunt…but still…did he have to be so, so…

"Kagome!"

She tried to force a smile as Shippo bounded up to her with a smiling face. It must have come out lopsided though.

"Kagome, what's wrong, didn't you get the food? Is Inuyasha hogging it all to himself?"

Oh yeah, the food. "Um, no Shippo, I didn't get any…um…" she had completely forgot the food in favour of trying to figure out what they were talking about that was so important. And Miroku, naked? What where they doing in there.

"Ooooh, that jerk! I'm going to go bite his ears off!" and with that he raced off towards the door. Wait, ears..."Shippo wait."

"Um…I mean uh…they're not hogging the food, they're um…we're playing a game!" Oh please buy it, please buy it.

"A game?" Shippo looked confused. Kagome nodded vigorously.

"Uh huh, a game, but," and she lowered her voice, "It's a spying game, to find the food, and I need your help. Would you help me Shippo?"

"SURE!" Kagome cringed, and made a shushing motion. "Oh, I mean sure…what do you want me to do Kagome?"

Kagome glanced at the marble wall which separated the two rooms. Quietly, conscious of Inuyasha's own super hearing, she crept up to it, and pressed her ear to it's cold surface, she made a motion for Shippo to do the same.

"Can you hear what they're saying Shippo?" Kagome herself could only make out muffled noises. But the kit began nodding eagerly. "Yup, I can hear every word!"

"Shhhhhh!" Kagome cringed again, but calmed when the murmurs continued. Shippo apologized, and then went still. Kagome waited…

and waited…

…

"Shippo, what are they talking about?"

"Shhh!"

…

Slowly, the child peeled his ear from the wall and shook his head. "I dunno Kagome, it doesn't make any sense."

Kagome frowned, "Well, tell me anyway, maybe it's code?"

Shippo listened for a bit more and then turned to her, still confused. "I dunno, they're talking about sinks. Miroku says that to get rid of the sinks, you have to answer a riddle, and if you get it wrong, then the sinks kills you. He wants Inuyasha to help him get rid of the sinks by buying him time…" Shippo shook his head again, "What do they mean Kagome, is the food buried in quicksand or something?"

Kagome thought about it for a moment. Sinks, sinks…sphinx! They were talking about the sphinx! Ohh, that lying…"What are they saying now Shippo?"

Shippo began listening again, his face becoming more confused by the second. "I think they've gone loony Kagome, Miroku's saying about how after they defeat the sinks, he thinks he might ask them to make him a king, and he wants to know if Inuyasha wants to stay with him and be a bodyguard…are you okay Kagome?"

Kagome swallowed several times, in an attempt to get her throat working again. "Wh-what did Inuyasha say?"

Shippo listened again.

"…he said yes."

The room was deadly silent for a moment, mostly because Kagome couldn't bring herself to speak.

"Kagome? Kagome? Are you okay? Do you know where the food is yet? Do you want me to go find it for you?"

Kagome cleared her throat for a moment, blinking back tears.

"Kagome?"

"Ahem. Yeah, I-I think I have a clue where it might be…Shippo, you said they had a kitchen in the castle, is there a sink there?"

Shippo's eyes grew wide with understanding. "Ah! You're right! I'll go look for it Kagome, I'll be back right away! Don't worry, you can count on me!"

Her smile was a bit more genuine this time, Shippon was glad to see as he scampered away. He wasn't sure exactly what was wrong, but if finding the food for Kagome would make her happy, then he would do it as fast as he could.

As soon as Shippo left, Kagome walked out of the room, and closed the door, heading down the hall in the opposite direction Shippo had taken. She just needed to go for a walk, she thought, scrubbing tears from her eyes. A walk would help her put her thoughts in order. She would figure out what to do then, it would be no problem. She would be okay, everything would be fine…

Inuyasha sat on the roof of the palace, gazing quietly at the moon, and the stars. Keh, stupid wench, did she actually think that he hadn't been able to hear her? And he couldn't believe Shippo had actually bought her excuse, how stupid could you get, a game to hide food? And Kagome thought that he was the dumb one. Keh, yeah right.

A scowl crosses his face as he recalled what had happened that afternoon. She had told him not to say a word, like he would mess it all up as if he said anything. And then when that idiot had started ignoring her and he'd been forced to talk, she'd looked horrified at everything that had left his mouth, shaking her head and mouthing words behind the old geezer's back. What, was he supposed to be a mind reader. She had wanted him to grovel at that asshole's feet! No way in Hades he was doing that! Not as long as he lived!

And then there was the fucking priest. No, she didn't like what he had to say, but she would listen to the letcher, call him their "leader" and ask him to go fetch the bastard as if he were some kind of lowlife dog. She let the fucker kiss her hand and shit, but she had yelled at him for choking the old geezer while trying to protect her, and then let the bastard push her around like some kind of…fucking…god or something, Keh!

And then there was that dress…fucking. Yeah, he had always know that she was a princess and stuff, but…but she had never dressed like it before. What was wrong with her normal clothes anyway. But then the snob probably liked dressing in that white, frilly shit anyway. Fucking stuck up…no wonder she didn't want anything to do with him. After all, who was he but the guy who had saved her life fifty times. Just some monster to her, that was all he was. She was no better than the rest of them, fucking whore…bitch…wench…

He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath, and letting it all out.

…so why did it bother him so much? Why did it…hurt…

…Maybe he really would stay with Miroku if they beat the sphinx. Not that he trusted the lecher in any way, but the guy was too afraid of him to try anything stupid. It might not be such a bad life, he'd have a room and all the food he could eat. Kagome would go off and find her family and be happy with them. The plan sounded simple enough. Miroku would ask the riddle, and Inuyasha would fight this sphinx, whatever it was, until Miroku found the answer to the riddle and killed the bastard for good. It should be a piece of cake. He'd never met a god beast he couldn't kill.

No…he wasn't going to think of Sessoumaru, or what had happened after, with Kagome, and the poison, and the wounds, her touch…

Fuck.

"Kagomeeee!"

Inuyasha almost sighed in relief; finally a distraction. Looking around, he sniffed the air once, and twisted his ears a bit to the right. There, he'd located the runt, now to go bug him. Hehehe…

The young fox was wandering around the main hall, now abandoned to the night. A pair of guards sat, sleeping by the entrance. It was a wonder Shippo didn't wake them up with all his yelling. Keh, deaf humans.

"Kagomeeee!"

"Oi runt, quit with all that racket. People are trying to sleep here!" Inuyasha had snuck up so quietly behind the kit that the poor boy must have jumped two feet into the air. The half god beast smirked in spite of an attempt to keep a straight face.

"Inuyasha! You…you JERK!"

Okay, he wasn't smirking now. Shippo had jumped him, and proceeded to try to bite his ears and pull at his hair. The older demon growled and yanked the boy off. "Oi, what was that for?"

"You jerk! It's all your fault! You made Kagome sad, and now I can't find her! And I didn't find the food either! I looked and I looked…it's all you fault! Bwaaahahaha! Kagomeeeee! Whhhaaaaaa!"

Inuyasha was quick to try and clamp his hands over the boys mouth, but Shippo was a good squirmer. It wasn't until Inuyasha pinned the boy against his own chest with one hand that he managed to secure the other one over the boys mouth and silence him for good. Apparently the guards weren't completely deaf either, and Inuyasha was forced to make an escape out of the front doors before either came to their senses enough to see what was going on. Finally, he landed on a nearby roof, and looked down sternly at the kit in his arms.

"What do you mean you can't find Kagome stupid. She's in her room, sleeping."

Shippo struggled under Inuyasha's grip to shake his head in the negative. Eventually, Inuyasha released his grip on the kit's mouth, after warning to keep quiet or else.

"Nuh-uh. She's not in her room, I checked, and then I looked all over the castle, but I couldn't find her. The only place I smelled her was by the gate, but she couldn't be there, because if she went there it means she left the castle, and she wouldn't do that. She wouldn't leave me! She must be hiding from you, because you're so mean to her and you make her sad. It's all your fault, meanie!" The kit took this moment to chomp down hard on Inuyasha's hand, until the half god beast was forced to release him. Shippo scurried off over the roof top, yelling Kagome's name at the top of his lungs. Inuyasha winced, the castle people weren't going to be happy with them tomorrow…

But more importantly, where was Kagome? She wouldn't have been stupid enough to wander into the city alone would she? The people there were hungry enough to eat her alive.

Still, he went to the gate to see exactly what Shippo had been smelling. Jogging lightly (for him anyway) he followed the castle wall around to the front gate, and landed just inside, sniffing…

Strange…sure smelled like Kagome…

Concerned, he leapt easily over to the other side of the wall as well. He landed, sniffed, and scowled.

Of all the stupid, fucking, moronic things for the bitch to do! What in Hades was she thinking?


	15. Cats and Dogs

She wasn't doing this, not really. She wasn't stupid enough to just walk off in the middle of the night, with no supplies, no money, and barely any decent clothes. Kagome shivered as the wind picked up around her. She should go back now.

She paused at a crossroads near the outskirts of town. Above the nearby mountains, the moon, only a tiny sliver in the sky, was beginning to set. She set her feet towards it, and continued walking.

In her mind, her own reasoning that this was stupid fell on deaf ears, drowned out by some train of thought that Kagome knew wasn't reasonable, wasn't common sense, but was impossible to ignore. Why go back, when she'd already walked all this way? When, tomorrow, or maybe the day after, she'd have to come this way again, leave the city again, and take up her quest to find her family again. The others weren't going to follow her, not tonight, not tomorrow. Her mission was not their mission, her goals not theirs. Really, she should be happy for them. They were going to be kings and royalty and live happily ever after.

And she knew they'd help her. Saddle her up with horses and supplies and guards to escort her and she would reach Delphi in no time that way, ask her question and find her family. Why was she doing this now? In the middle of the night? Why?

Because the truth was, she didn't know if she would be able to leave any other way. She wouldn't be able to mount some horse and slowly ride out of the city leaving her current companions behind forever. She'd lose her nerve, break down, cry. Leaving them that way would hurt, and she didn't know if she'd be able to stand it. She thought that, maybe, if she turned back now, she'd lose her nerve forever and then she'd never get to Delphi, and never find her family. No, this way was easier. She'd walk until she collapsed, in this surreal landscape of mountains and a starlit road, and tell herself that she wasn't doing this, not really. She wasn't stupid enough to just walk off in the middle of the night.

The wind picked up again and Kagome stopped, finding herself on a low plateau, one of the first foothills of the mountain range. She hadn't realized she had walked so far. Below, the city slept in darkness, the distant horizon glowing ever so slightly, suggesting the approach of dawn. Kagome shivered in the thin dress, clenching her teeth to keep them from chattering. One more step. One more step either way and her mind would be made up. She would either go forward or back. Instead she sat down on a nearby rock. She told herself that she was going to think now, and decide which way she was going to go, but her mind seemed intent on wandering, her eyes never leaving that thin line of light in the distance, growing slowly brighter with every passing minute.

And that was how Inuyasha found her. After spending hours with his nose in the dirt sniffing at nearly every crossroad in Thebes, there she was, a white statue on grey rock surrounded by a dark, rugged landscape, eyes gazing solemnly on some distant point of time and space. She hadn't even noticed him land on her little plateau, not twenty steps from where she sat. With a deepening frown he stood, brushed some imagined dirt from the front of his overcoat, and, still failing to get her attention, cleared his throat.

She blinked, straightening a little, turning her head just slightly so that she stared right at him, and then right through out to the other side. She said his name as if she were in a dream. "Inu-ya-sha."

His frown deepened into a full blown snarl. "Idiot! What in Hades are you doing out here!" He stepped towards her, her eyes increasingly alert as he turned his back and crouched down. "Come on, we're going back."

When there was no motion behind him, Inuyasha craned his head to find Kagome now staring at the ground, her hands fiddling with her skirt. A growl rose up in his throat but he smothered it back down. Kagome wasn't acting like herself, and it was starting to worry him. He wanted to get her back safely to the castle, make sure she was okay, and then he'd blow up at her and make her regret coming out here in the middle of the night. Impatient he stood, reaching for her hand, ready to toss her over his shoulder kicking and screaming if he needed to. He stopped short as Kagome pulled her hands back and leaned away from him, still not meeting his gaze.

Fine, if that was how she wanted to be, fuck being nice and fuck worrying about her. He drew in a deep breath to let her have it when-

"Why?"

Inuyasha stopped short, confused. Kagome was looking right at him. "Why what, wench?"

A sigh. Shaking her head she stood, forcing Inuyasha to either move back or have his personal space severely invaded. She stretching a little, nonchalantly walked around the rock, turned her back to the city and headed straight for the path that continued up the mountains.

Inuyasha blinked, "O-oi!"

With another sigh she turned her head so she could look at him, without moving her body to face him as well. "Thank you, Inuyasha, but I'm not going back."

Inuyasha blinked. Kagome was smiling. A small, sad smile.

"Thank you, for traveling with me. If you ever get the chance, come visit me on my Island, you'll always be welcome."

Inuyasha's eyebrows slowly skewed in confusion.

"Take care of Shippo for me, and yourself. I'm sure you'll be an excellent bodyguard for Miroku."

Wait, bodyguard.

"Goodbye, Inuyasha."

Huh? Oh. Shit! "Wait."

Kagome was still walking.

"Oi! Wait! Damnit!" and now he was moving "I said Wait!"

He slid in front of her, arms out, barring her way. Kagome stopped.

"Fucking wench would you just wait!"

Her mouth in a tight frown. Inuyasha set his jaw to match. "Where the hell do you think you're going? And who said anything about me guarding that stupid jackass of a priest."

Obviously angry now, she marched up to him, stopping only when she was as close as she could possibly get to his face. "I'm going to find my family." She said, "And don't lie to me. Shippo and I heard you talking to Miroku. You're going to defeat the sphinx and become Miroku's bodyguard while he becomes King. Good luck, Inuyasha. Enjoy the rest of your life."

She went to move around him but Inuyasha grabbed her by her uninjured arm and held her, growling. "Idiot. I only said that shit because I KNEW you were listening. Dumb ass!"

Kagome's eyes flashed confusion, then anger. "Then why did you say it in the first place?"

"Because you deserved it."

"Oh? And just how did I manage to do that, huh?"

"Because you've been treating me like some kind of fucking servant since the second we got into this castle, Your Fucking Highness."

Kagome gaped at him. Indignant, "I was NOT treating you like anything Inuyasha. If you had just stopped acting like a child for five minutes…"

"So I'm a child now, huh? I'm good enough to save your fucking life from a demon but the second your inside some stupid castle its 'Inuyasha let me talk' and 'Inuyasha go fetch our leader,' and 'Inuyasha don't hurt that old man" even though he ordered a bunch of soldiers to cut you into Fucking pieces!' Sorry if I'm not as good as that stupid priest. Sorry if I'm just some pain in the ass monster compared to your royal bitchiness."

Kagome frowned. "I never said you were a monster."

"Keh. Yes you did."

"No." she corrected carefully, "I'm certain I have never called you a monster, Inuyasha."

"But you fucking meant i…"

"No I have never called you a monster, Inuyasha," she interrupted, "because I have never thought of you as one. Why are you even thinking about that?" and she shook her head in confusion.

Inuyasha, for once, was silent.

"Keh, never mind, wench."

"No, I am going to mind. Why did you call yourself a monster?"

"I didn't say that. They did?"

"And who's they?"

"Look, forget about it."

But the look on Kagome's face told him she wouldn't.

"The people at the castle wench." He told her, as if it was obvious.

"Who? that ass of an advisor?" she waited for an answer. Inuyasha finally shook his head. No.

"Then who?"

"Just-"

"Who!"

"Damnit wench it was the other castle, alright?"

Kagome blinked, "Other castle?"

"Fuck," he grabbed her wrist, "lets just go back."

And that was when a low, sensual feminine voice broke through the silence, "Oh," it said, "but it was just getting good."

At precisely the crack of dawn a gong rang out, summoning all citizens of Thebes to the large open market place at the centre of the city. There the head advisor, Queen Jacosta, Miroku, Shippo, and a handful of guards awaited to address the coming crowd. They did not have to wait long, most citizens having waken early already by pangs of hunger, or the cries of hungry loved ones. Soon the market was filled with hungry, living skeletons.

Miroku watched them arrive, eyes darting warily around, stopping every so often on a head of gray hair, or a tunic of brilliant red. Where was Inuyasha? "Dammit!" Miroku swore under his breath, covering it up quickly with a smile and a cough as he was eyed by the nearest guard. Spotting Shippo cradled in the arms of a tired, puffy eyed Queen Jacosta, Miroku called his name to get his attention, and motioned the kit over to him. Shippo waited long enough to tell the Queen where he was going before bounding out of her arms. The second he was within hearing range, Miroku addressed him.

"Shippo!" he hissed in an undertone, "Have you seen Inuyasha or Kagome?"

Much to Miroku's distress, the kit's lower lip suddenly began to tremble.

"I, I…last night I went loo-looking for food for Kagome, an then she wasn't there when I got back to the room s-so I went and looked for her bu-but I didn't find her so I found Inuyasha and I yelled at him for-for making Kagome sad and then he said he d-didn't know where she was so he went looking for her an…an…"

Seeing that Shippo was about to break out in wailing sobs Miroku quickly cut in. "It's okay Shippo, I'm sure they're alright, probably just caught up in the crowd is all, ahahahahaha." He rubbed the back of his head in a nervous gesture and suggested that Shippo go back to comforting the Queen, who was looking at the assembling crowd with a growing look of sorrow and loss. Cursing under his breath again, he had almost resolved to go look for the half-god-beast and princess himself, when the old advisor stepped forward, and in a booming voice, completely contradictory of his old appearance, addressed the crowd.

"My people," he began, and the crowd began to hush, "My people, a great sorrow has fallen upon our city." There was a moment of murmuring, but the advisor held up his hand. "My people, not only has our proud city been laid nearly waste by the plague of the Sphinx, but alas, our dear King Laius has now departed us through death." And now the murmur rose to a full our roar. It took several minutes before the crowd became calm again, the advisor shouting for order the whole time.

"It has come down to this," he continued at last, "given the position our city now finds itself in, plagued and now kingless, we, the elders of the city, are prepared to make an offer." And here the crowd grew deadly silent, "Who so ever can defeat the sphinx, will be allowed to marry the Queen Jacosta, and thus rightfully wear the crown as King of Thebes. And… wait…" But there was no silence for several minutes and finally the advisor ordered that the bugles be blown to settle the crowd. In the mean time, Miroku found himself being pinned by the stare of the advisor, and motioned forward. The priest swallowed a mouthful of air, hoping to discover that his stomach had not fallen down into his feet as he had felt it do a minute earlier.

"This man," and here the advisor thrust Miroku forward by a firm shove to his shoulders, "This man has offered to be the first to challenge to sphinx, claiming that he, and no other, shall win the crown of our fair City. We shall now, all as one, go out into the mountains and face this horrid curse which has been placed…

"Your Excellency!"

Miroku, of course, all too willing to wait, turning his full attention to which-ever voice had rung out over the crowd of people. He was sweating as it is, praying to Dionysus for time, and that Inuyasha would arrive at any moment so they could complete their plan as promised.

"Your Excellency," Miroku watched as the skinny crowd parted to let a skinny man through, only to have him blocked by the ring of surrounding guards. "You-your Excellency," and here the man paused to catch his breath, staring at the advisor all the while. Eventually, after a few gulps of air, the young man managed to spit out, "Some-someone," breath, breath, breath…

"Someone is fighting the Sphinx!"

"HRAAAAAAAAA!" The battle cry rang out in the still morning air, followed quickly by the clash of swords, the sound of metal on metal ringing though the air. Inuyasha and she Sphinx were deadlocked in the middle of the clearing, Inuyasha wielding Tetsusaiga, the Sphinx holding her own with a small curved blade of the kind used by the Egyptians to the south. Inuyasha grunted as the Spinx let out a hiss, and the two broke apart.

"Hmmmmprrrrrr. Not bad for a halfling. You arrrre turrrrning out to be much more…interrressting than I had thought…"

"Keh," and Inuyasha wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. "Oi, Kagome, how's that riddle coming along? You'd better hurry up if you want to kill this bitch before I do." His eyes never left the Sphinx though, and the part lady, part cat, part bird only laughed.

"Oh, hohohohoho. You think you can hurt me Hanyou, I think not." And she launched herself again at him. "Though you are prrroving to be a most amusing dinner to play with, meow."

Inuyasha leapt in the air, meeting the blade of the sphinx with his own once again, driving her downwards with his body weight. They held there for a moment before Inuyasha suddenly smirked and, fast as lightning, kicked the blade out of the Sphinx's hand. It flew into the air, landing somewhere among the rocks and bushes of the mountain side, and Inuyasha wasted no time in bringing his sword down, slicing flesh and bone, quickly severing his opponent's right arm. He smiled and leapt backwards with a triumphant grin.

"Ha! Take that, bitch." He landed upon the same boulder Kagome had previously been sitting on, ready to gloat over his fallen adversary. He was ready for the screams and curses which would be music to his ears. He was not expecting his opponent to begin laughing.

"Ho ho ho ho…" He watched as the Sphinx slowly stood on her two cat feet, and then let his jaw fall open as her arm flew up on its own, instantly re-attaching itself to what had once been a bloody stub of a shoulder. "You are a stupid one, aren't you, Dog. First of all, I cannot be killed unless someone finally guesses my riddle. Second, that blade was a mere toy I picked up, hoping it would make my hunting a little more interesting, and Finally," Inuyasha watched as five, three inch long talons surfaced from the tips of his adversary's paws, "Finally, I'm a cat, not a dog. I hate dogs, and you will pay for addressing me as 'bitch'."

Inuyasha barely had time to dodge as the rock he had been standing on was sliced vertically into six perfect thin slabs. Kagome let out a warning shout and Inuyasha was forced to drop his sword in order to defend against the feline's deadly two handed attack. The pair dropped to the ground, Inuyasha on the bottom, feeling sharp rocks press against his spine and dig into his sides. Kagome yelled his name from a ways away and Inuyasha retaliated by telling her to "Concentrate on the fucking riddle, wench."

Distracted as he was, he didn't see the sphinx move until it was too late. In one motion, his enemy lunged forward and sunk her fangs deep into the flesh between his shoulder and neck. Inuyasha screamed as the sphinx made a wrenching motion with her head and moved away, taking a mouthful of bloody, warm muscle. Inuyasha rolled and jumped to his feet, whirling to face his opponents next attack. The sphinx, however, was taking her time across the clearing, making gagging noises and repeatedly spitting out mouthfuls of bloody saliva.

"Awe, grosssss, dogflesh, nasssty, phtoo." She shook her head and turned again to face Inuyasha. "I was hoping, since you were half human, (ptoo) that you would have a human's taste instead of a damned (blech) disgusting (cough) dog's." Inuyasha stood there, watching while his opponent horked and coughed. He felt blood seep from his shoulder wound and flow down his chest and arm, even with his opposite arm putting pressure on the burning gab in his flesh.

"Shit Kagome, you had better answer this damned thing soon."

And he charged again.

Across the plateau, camped safely behind some boulders Kagome watched Inuyasha swipe his arm, turning arcs of his own blood into flying projectiles. They hit the sphinx almost dead on, only to have her regenerate herself and within seconds begin attacking Inuyasha again. If the fight went on like this she knew what the outcome would be. She had to solve the riddle, that was their only hope. Solve the riddle, and then the Sphinx would die. "Look out Inuyasha!"

Her friend shot her a pointed glare and then returned back to battle. Oh yeah, the riddle. Got to solve the riddle, got to solve...what was it again? Kagome closed her eyes and covered her ears.

"What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?"

Instantly her mind was void of all possibilities. Feeling the ground shake beneath her Kagome grit her teeth and forced herself to think of comparisons. A broken cart? A lame horse? The sun? Um, ah, a ship? No silly, a ship doesn't have legs. Damnit!

Kagome shrieked as something landed on her shoulder, believing all at once that Inuyasha had died and now the sphinx had come for her.

"Kagome?"

She whirled around, focusing on the voice, determined to hold her own even for just a few seconds more.

"Kagome."

…

"Sh-Shippo?"

"Kagome what's going on?"

The ground shook and there was a collective gasp and groan from a crowd of people that had suddenly surrounded the battlefield of the plateau.

"Shippo, what are all these people doing here?"

"They came to see Inuyasha fight the sphinx. Hey Kagome, do you think that, yesterday, when Inuyasha and Miroku were talking about sinks, that they were actually talking about-"

"Quiet Shippo I need to concentrate."

And with that she closed her eyes and covered her ears again. One glance at Inuyasha had told her that his condition was rapidly going from bad to worse, and if she didn't get this riddle done soon, then Inuyasha would die. He would die and it would all be her fault. He would die. Try not to think of it, you have to focus on the riddle or he'll die, he'll die, I can't do this, no think positive, you have to. He won't die, he won't die, what was that fucking riddle again…

By now Kagome was almost at the point of tears, her inability to focus quickly winding her into a frustrated panic. She was just at the point of screaming when…

"Excuse me miss, are you alright?"

Kagome blinked, alarmed at the proximity of the voice. She found herself staring at someone's feet, three of them. Two belonged to a person, and one belonged to a rather funny cane that had been intricately carved with a miniature foot on the bottom.

Three feet, three legs. She saw Shippo sitting on all fours in front of her, just like a baby…Morning, noon, and evening.

"IT'S PEOPLE!"

And she wasted no time standing up, turning around to face the battlefield.

"INUYASHA IT'S MAN! THE ANSWER TO THE RIDDLE IS MAN!"

And suddenly, all motion on the battlefield stopped. For a very short moment, all was silent, and then there arose the most horrible wail as the sphinx burst into flames and was consumed in mere seconds. The second silence was shattered by a joyous roar as the people of the city celebrated their new found freedom. Kagome ignored it in favor of running across the plateau to make sure Inuyasha was alright. She barely managed to kneel beside him before the air was split with the sounding of bugles and a voice rose up.

"Silence, my people, silence!" the advisor stood at the head of the crowd, ready to make a public address when all of a sudden…

"WOW! KAGOME!" Shippo yelled, running up to them, "You're gonna be King!"

In the vacuum of silence before the advisor's speech, every ear in the town had heard the fox kit's words. No one spoke.

"Silence Brat! There is no way that a woman could become king! Know your place!"

"But you said that whoever answered the riddle would be king, and Kagome answered the riddle, so she's king."

"brat these matters are far beyond…"

"I'm not a brat! I'm a god-beast of Demeter, and if you don't let Kagome be king, you're a liar."

"Would you all just SHUT the FUCK UP!"

All eyes turned to Inuyasha who was slowly sitting up, one hand raised to support his obviously sore head. It was the noise, Kagome realized, it was hurting him.

Shaking her head, she let out a sigh and said, "It's all right, Shippo, I don't really want to be king anyway. I have something more important I need to do." She stood and dusted herself off, drawing herself to her full height, shoulders back, chin forward, looking every bit the royal maiden that she was. She turned to address the advisor, who looked torn between being both overjoyed and insulted at her refusal to take the throne. "To be perfectly honest, I would never have figured out the answer to the riddle if I hadn't seen that man over there." And she pointed, across the way, to where that same man stood in confusion, still leaning against his intricately carved staff. Kagome was surprised to see that he was actually a young man, rather attractive, with light brown hair a fairly strong build, save for his slight limp.

The advisor of course jumped at the chance he had been given. "You there, young man, what's your name?"

"Er," the stranger replied, "It's Hojo, but most people call me Oedipus. Tell me, what's going on-"

The advisor cut him off. "Three cheers for King Oedipus! Hip, Hip, Hooray! Hip, Hip, Hooray!"

"Mother, fucking." But no one was paying attention to Inuyasha over the roar of cheers. "Dammit Kagome, we're leaving!" And with that he grabbed her wrist and all but dragged her up the mountain path, with Shippo following behind."

Meanwhile, not too far down the road, a loan figure could be seen leading his horse up the mountain path, away from the city. He paused to look back, hearing the cheers rise up to the new king.

"Oh well," Miroku shrugged, "I guess it was not meant to be..."

He picked up the nearest stone he could find and launched it back in the direction he had come. "Jackasses."

It hadn't taken Miroku long to realize what had happened. Inuyasha had obviously decided to implement Miroku's plan on his own, making the half-god-beast the ruler of the city, without having any need of Miroku himself. Miroku was sure then, the halfling planned to take Kagome as his wife and Shippo as his son and they'd all live happily ever after like one big fucking family. The family that SHOULD have been his, Miroku's. The priest launched another rock up the hill, wishing a curse on the new king, and all his so called family.

"Oi! Dammit priest, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Miroku stopped. That voice sounded an aweful lot like…

"Miroku, oh thank the gods. Hang on Inuyasha, I'm going to go get the medical supplies"

"Keh! I'm fine wench. These are fucking scratches."

"Really Inuyasha? Wow, I've never seen scratches that big."

"Ouch, hey brat. Lay off!"

"WAAAAAHHH, Kagome, Inuyasha's hurting meeeee."

It took a while for everything to get sorted out in the end, or at least, mostly sorted out. Kagome never really bothered to explain why she had run off in the middle of the night, and Miroku didn't elaborate on how all their previous food had suddenly been replaced with rice and pickled vegetables. Shippo told everyone about how he had spent the night talking to the Queen to cheer her up, and Kagome had gushed and commended him on doing a good deed. Inuyasha had said "Keh" a lot, and then tried very hard not to say anything as Kagome applied that herb on his wounds again, even though he looked as though he wanted to scream. All in all though, it was business as usual, as the little group traveled up the mountains, leaving the city of Thebes behind.

"I thought you were going to leave me, you know?"

Inuyasha paused in his step, twisting his head to look at the girl on his back as best he could, wincing as it pulled his still wounded shoulder. It was the day after, they were back on the trail again, slowly climbing up the mountains, heading on towards Delphi.

"Keh," Inuyasha brushed her off and continued walking.

"I'm serious. I really thought you were going to forget about me. I was really sad."

Again, Inuyasha paused. She was sad? Because she thought he was leaving? "Keh."

"And you're not a monster. Monsters are evil, you're not evil. You're my friend."

He felt Kagome wrap her arms around him in a gentle hug, still careful to avoid his wounds. His face suddenly felt too hot…

"…Keh."

Note:

My first bit of writing in a long time. I know it's not as good as some of the stuff used to be, I'm severely out of practice. I know I left out a lot of detail at the end, but then again, between people knowing the story of Oedipus, and knowing the Inuyasha characters, I was worried that if I put in too much detail, it might get boring and redundant. Plus it's hard to write a good action scene without sounding repetitive.

Anyway, tell me if I messed up. I think I'll need all the help I can get.


End file.
